The Adventures of the Forgotten Trainer
by 92fireDemon
Summary: Having lived in isolation for years and being almost forgotten by the rest of the world, a master decides to venture back into society. A series of one shots follow his adventures.
1. Twice

**AN: I don't own anything to do with Pokemon**

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"Haven't you had enough Sir?"

Blue glared at the bar-tender before gulping down yet another shot. He slammed the tiny glass down and looked at the bar-tender expectantly. Said bar-tender shook his head in disbelief, as he poured the young man another shot of his strongest drink. Blue made to grab the drink but his hand was stopped from doing so.

"Listen that'll be your ninth and last shot. I and the bar refuse to sell you any more. And take this as well, you'll need that recipe for tomorrow morning."

Blue grunted as he took that scrap of paper, pocketing it in his jacket. He looked down at his shot of absinthe welling in his sorrow.

Twice. He put his first defeat to that insufferably boy down to luck. Even he admitted that he had underestimated the boy when he first showed up, he had paid little heed to their first battle, expecting it to end quickly.

And quickly it did end, but he was not victorious. To say he was shocked when he was defeated would have been the greatest understatement in the history of mankind. At first he refused to believe it, no one could beat him that easily, the boy must have cheated. For weeks he analysed the battle, trying to pinpoint where his opponent had got an unfair advantage, but ultimately Blue had to concede that the boy had beaten him fair and square.

From that day Blue trained. Never again would he take an opponent lightly, never again would he judge an opponent on their looks alone. He vowed to meet that boy again someday and reclaim his rightful spot. And so when the opportunity presented itself to him, he was nearly overcome with giddiness. This time would be his, he would be the one standing triumphant and that boy would be forced into humility.

But the result was the same. His poor valiant Umbreon lay beaten in the dust. He had lost for a second time. Now here he was drinking his sorrows away, how had he lost again? He had done his homework, he had studied his opponent and devised a near perfect strategy, the boy was down to his last Pokémon, yet it wasn't enough. He growled to himself, scaring a couple of women near him, as he desperately tried to figure out how his opponent got the better of him for a second time. While he argued with himself a small part in the back of his mind knew that he had participated in the second greatest battle of all time. At least he had one over his opponent, he had participated in the greatest battle as well.

"The CHAMP is HEEEEEREEE!" Blue swivelled around, snarling at the sight in front of him. There standing at the front door of the bar was the reason for his demotion. A girl under each arm, a stupid disgusting smirk on his face and that stupid cap on his head.

"Yo barkeep! I'd like to open up a tab. Got a victory to celebrate after all. Oh and a round for everyone in the bar cos I'm just that dam awesome."

"Sure thing champ!"

"Cheers keep. Now where the girls at? Your big dog is here. And he's one eager dog!"

Blue turned back around in disgust. How on earth did that guy become champion? He sneaked a glance at the new champion, who had made his way to a table where he had been joined by yet more girls, all of which the champion stroked, patted and ground up on. Even the way he dressed annoyed blue. What kind of champion wore shorts? The baggy jacket looked ridiculous, adding to the boy's overall scruffiness but the worst thing was the cap. That black and gold backwards cap infuriated the gym leader.

"He is quite something isn't he?" Blue didn't bother to look up towards the red head that had just sat next to him.

"If you say so Misty." He replied before draining his shot glass once more.

"Awww. Sounds like someone's jealous." He didn't even try to get away as Misty ruffled his brown spiky hair.

"Don't feel too blue Blue." She giggled to herself. "You put up a hell of a fight. Best fight I've seen in a long time, I don't think anyone has challenged Ethan like that before. But there is a reason why he's unbeaten. He's simply the best and probably the best ever." Blue's face shot up to meet her, eyes wide open, mouth slightly agape in shock. Surely she had not just uttered those words.

"Oh c'mon Blue. Ethan's never been defeated and had an easier time beating you than he did. Your battle with him was better yes but it was also closer. Ethan is a freak, that boy is the most naturally gifted trainer we've ever seen. You just have to face facts, if Red were still around, he'd loose as well."

Blue continued to stare at her, his face unchanged. In part due to the alcohol and mostly in shock at her words. Misty's face softened, she smiled pitifully at the man in front of her. She leaned towards him and gripped his shoulders.

"Hey. It's OK. We all miss him. But you're still the second best trainer in the world." He almost fell backwards of his seat as she stole a quick kiss.

"Now if you excuse me I have to congratulate our new champion." She winked at him before making her way over to Ethan's table. Blue followed her form, still reeling from her actions. He soon regained his composure as she sat down on Ethan's lap, giving the young boy a peck on the cheeks. His face soon set into a glare as Ethan began stroking her inner thigh.

"I need another drink." He snapped at the bar-tender.

"I told you Sir. You've had enough already."

"Fine." Blue barked getting up from stool and throwing down some money. "Keep the change." He muttered as he staggered his way out.

He rambled around, swaying slightly as he searched for more alcohol. After hours of questing, and well past any respectable time, he found the objects of his desire in an off-licence convenience store that also sold cigarettes.

"Maybe my luck is heading up. Or maybe it's not." He corrected himself as he saw the prices that he would have to pay for the off-licence alcohol. In the end he settled upon the cheapest six pack and pack of cigarettes he could find.

He made his way out with his booty and headed towards a bench that he remembered passing on his way. After a few minutes he found the bench, he sat down and lit himself a smoke. He took a long draught on it, letting the heat fill and warm him up. Shortly after he broke open the first of his six to quench his thirst.

His mind wandered but it kept coming back to Misty's words. Never in his life would he admit it to anyone, but definitely missed his rival, he missed Red. He missed those epic battles, those silent yet amusing taunts. He missed his measuring stick, his goal, his reason to get better as a trainer. But most of all he missed his friend.

Blue stared into the darkness, even if Red were still here, he doubt they would be friends. They had ceased being friends almost a decade ago. He had cast Red away, rendering the mute of his only friend all in a quest for strength. Of course he regretted it now, Red would probably be here sharing a beer with him, his mere presence helping Blue through his solitude and depression. He doubted that Red would smoke with him though, he was too much of a goody two shoes for that.

But another part of him didn't regret his decision. The animosity between them at that time resulted in them always trying to one up each other, it made them into the two best trainers on the planet , if not ever (in his own humble opinion they were). Looking back on it Red's methods were obviously better and quite understandably led to better results but without Blue himself belittling Red all those years ago, maybe the great master would have never got the internal fortitude that he had.

Comparing the past to the present, Blue wondered whether Red felt the same way about him then as he did with Ethan now. He wasn't as cocky or in your face as Ethan. Sure he had quite the female fan base but he didn't make that much of a deal about it nor was he perv like that freak. No he definitely wasn't as bad as Ethan is but he was still an awful person to Red.

Then that prick obviously had to leave before they could repair their friendship though. A year after Blue had lost his crown, Red's mother died from a freak accident. The funeral would be the last time he would see Red. Almost the very next day he vanished without a trace. A massive man hunt had started for their missing champion, they called it off after ten months, declaring him dead but Blue refused to believe that, Red was out there somewhere just not wanting to be found.

"Hey can I bum a smoke?" Blue's attention was captured by a short girl with shoulder length brown hair wearing a red top and blue shorts with a puffy white hat covering her head. She looked relatively attractive but too young for his tastes and vaguely familiar.

"Aren't you too young to smoke?"

"Aren't you too young to be a Gym Leader?" Blue snorted. He liked her comeback and offered her a smoke and lit it for her.

"Thanks. You don't mind do you?" She pointed to the seat next to him on the bench. He nodded his head and she sat next to him. It wasn't long before she started to shiver. _'Not surprising. What is with people and ridiculous shorts?"_ Blue thought to himself before offering his jacket to the girl.

"I'm OK thanks." She politely refused but after a more vigorous shiver and a raised eyebrow from Blue she finally accepted the offering. They sat there in silence for a while, puffing on their cigarettes and in Blue's case taking the occasional swig from one of his drinks before suddenly they heard the roar of a car approach them. A gold convertible zoomed past them screeching on the brakes as it went past. The convertible reversed back towards them revealing six girls and Ethan at the wheel, all of them quite intoxicated.

"Yo Lyra babe. Let's head back to my place. We're gonna have ourselves some mad fun!" Lyra, now he recognised her, he had seen her hanging around Ethan at the tournament. She was with him so often that he thought that she was his girlfriend.

"No it's OK Ethan, I have a place to stay already."

"C'mon babe. My place will be such a party!" She shook her head again.

"At least let me give you a ride back."

"I don't think you have enough space in that car." She joked "Don't worry I'll make my own way back."

"Tsk. Don't be like that babe."

"Ethan. It's OK" she said more sternly this time.

"Grrr. Oh hey Blue." Ethan finally spotted the gym leader. "Sorry about whooping your ass red and raw back then. Hope that spanking didn't hurt too much. But you know, got a record to maintain and all that. Best there is, best there was and best there ever will be, you feel me? Gotta keep my swag levels beyond swagpossible. Anyways catch ya later brav." With that Ethan sped away leaving a near boiling point Blue crushing his can into an intangible state.

"Hey I'm sorry for…."

"You don't need to apologise for you boyfriend. Maybe you should leave and go with him!" Blue sighed as he turned and saw the girl. She was staring at the ground sadly, her eyes slightly watery.

"Look I shouldn't have said that, I'm sorry." He said tentatively, cautiously patting her on the shoulder.

"He's not my boyfriend." She mumbled out. "I hope.." she stopped mid-sentence. Blue didn't press the matter, there was obviously some kind of issue and it wasn't his place to pry into it. They sat in silence for quite some time before Blue offered to walk her home to which she simply nodded.

She cheered up on the way back as she asked him a few questions about his life. He wasn't that surprised that she knew quite a bit about him already, being the grandson of arguably the most famous person on the planet did put you in the media spotlight but he enjoyed the fact that she didn't fawn over him nor did she spew facts out to try and get on his good side. In turn he learned about her, a trainer as well though not an overly remarkable one, he got the feeling she had become a trainer to try and impress a certain someone but had found firm friends in her Pokémon along the way. Eventually they found themselves in front of the hotel where she was staying at.

"For what it's worth, you're actually a decent person." She said as she faced him.

"Thanks I guess."

"Best of luck Blue." She offered her hand which he shook before. She turned and walked towards her hotel. Just before she got inside she turned back to Blue.

"I don't know if I should be telling you this or even why I am but he can be beaten. In fact he has been beaten." Blue looked at her quizzically.

"He got really drunk one time and told me he had lost badly to someone, I don't think he remembers telling me. I wouldn't have believed him if he hadn't shown me his stats on his Pokédex. And there it was a ridiculous number of wins, zero draws but one loss." Blue looked at her dumbfounded.

"Are you sure? You're not lying to me are you? When did he loose? Who to?" His questions rapidly flew of his tongue.

"I'm not lying. I suppose you can ask you're grandfather, he can probably access Ethan's stats on his Pokédex. It happened not long after he beat you for your gym badge. He went away somewhere to do some training by himself, he came back bawling and hit the drink hard. I don't really know who he lost to though. All Ethan said was that all his Pokémon got knocked out by the one Pokémon the trainer used, a Pikachu."

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**AN: OK so this really was just a set up of my universe. As I said in the summary the rest of the chapters will be related one-shots that follow Red on his adventures after the Mt Silver battle. I have two ideas currently, the first of which will be chapter two (the second I will save for a special occasion) but if you guys have any suggestions I am completely open to them, the more random the better (basically try and put Red in the strangest situation you can think of). Drop them in a review or PM me and I'll get around to it.**

**So thanks for reading,**

**92fd out**


	2. Pictures

**AN: As always I own nothing**

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Of all the places he could have gone on this semi vacation kind of thing, the first place he had to go and visit just had to be another mountain. Maybe it was something to do with the air, after living up above the clouds for who knows how long perhaps he was just too used to it. At least this mountain was not nearly as high as his, nor was the climate quite so extreme. True it was still quite a hazardous place, one could argue that under certain conditions it could be the most dangerous place in the region but it was still nothing compared to the daily perils that his mountain provided. Well, at least he could say that he was weaning himself back in towards the rest of the world.

His Pokémon had enjoyed the change in scenery. Currently his three speed based Pokémon were taking in and making the most of the heat that radiated from this mountain. His Charizard in particular seemed as though he was in heaven. The giant orange lizard lay belly down on an equally large boulder that overlooked a small satellite vent. Resting on the back of Charizard, in-between its wings was his Espeon, basking in the brilliant sun while avoiding the hot rocks underneath.

Red himself sat cross-legged on a cloth to stop himself being burnt by the volcanic rocks. A clipboard balanced on his lap and a charcoal pencil in his right hand, he had been trying to draw the two napping Pokémon as well as the backdrop that they found themselves in. The small group were on a secluded plateau about three quarters of the way up, well away from the main path and just above one of the smaller vents of the volcano. Some would call this place pretty, the way the ash covered the rocks, glistening when the light hit it, but for him it had nothing on the mountain he called home, he preferred snow to ash.

His training instincts had told him that this plateau would have been an ideal place to train. It only had two entrances, both of which were very concealed, only those who knew the area or in his case knew almost everything there was to about mountains would have been able to find them let alone scale or descend them. That meant that the likelihood of being found would have been extremely low and the large open area would have been great for mock battles between his Pokémon.

But of course those days were behind him. He sighed, that had been the point of this vacation. Too long had he been on that mountain endlessly training. Too long had he been grieving over his mother, trying to make himself the ultimate trainer in her honour. Too long had he ran away from the real world because he was too afraid. He had to get back in touch with reality but not as a trainer. There was nothing for him down that line, no goal to accomplish, no rival to overcome, nothing to prove to anyone or more importantly himself.

Yet he had to do something with his life, he had finally realised that his mother would have wanted him to do something with it that rather than just coop up on a mountain by himself. And besides, call it cockiness but he doubted that there was any challenge left for him in training and battling, something he had concluded after he had battled his last opponent.

Red smiled as he remembered the battle. He had been impressed that the teenager (or young man, Red couldn't really tell) had made it up the mountain relatively unscathed, no small feat indeed. The teen had been shocked to find him standing there at the peak but had quickly overcome his surprise and challenged him to a battle. After scaling the most difficult mountain Red had high hopes that the teen would be scintillating in battle and would give him his sternest test since his epic with Blue. But alas the teen posed no challenge at all. After a promising start the he faltered and the enjoyment of the battle quickly swept away. Red lost interest in the battle after knocking out the teen's first three Pokémon, he let his mind wander and trusted that his little friend would be able to take out the rest on his own.

There could be nothing to take away from the young man, it was obvious he was not just a good trainer, to make it up that mountain he would have had to been a great trainer, one of the best even. But the lack of challenge had Red wondering. Months of careful thought in his cavern had brought him to his conclusion. He was done with proper training and battling. Of course every now and then he and his team would participate in a little training but that just to stay healthy and reasonably fit. He had accomplished everything he wanted to in that field. Now he needed something else. The question now was what that was. And so he returned back to his first attempt at finding his new calling.

Drawing.

Way back when he was still a young boy he remembered being in awe of the pictures that Professor Oak would draw and show him. The sheer sight of them filled him with bliss and no doubt contributed to his pursuit of finding and training Pokémon. Perhaps he could do that. Inspire the next generation. His brow contorted in concentration as he tried to capture the essence of the scene in front of him. Disregarding the food and drink that he had laid out for himself, he set about his task, determined to finish and accomplish his new goal.

Finally after hours of straining his eyes and desperately trying to capture each and every detail, he placed both his clipboard and pencil down and admired his work. Pride swelled in him, it was definitely no masterpiece but for a first effort he felt it was really rather good. A reward was in order, he made to grab the burger that he had made earlier but grabbed nothing but air. He looked over to find his small yellow best friend nibbling away on his burger.

Red stared mouth agape while Pikachu continued to eat his food, completely oblivious to Red, only stopping eating to put copious amount of ketchup on said burger. Only once the burger had been completely ravished did Pikachu acknowledge Red's existence. The little mouse let out a satisfied sigh while dropping into his back, smirking slightly at his trainer. Red huffed and shook his head, he picked up his clipboard and pencil to draw his second picture.

Pikachu however wanted to see Red's first effort and prevented the trainer from starting by jumping onto his lap and taking control of the clipboard. Red sat there nervously, what would his longest companion make of the picture. The small mouse slowly turned around, a slight grin on his face. Red gave a nervous grin asking for confirmation.

The little mouse erupted in laughter, shaking uncontrollably whilst pointing at the picture. Red looked back at his creation. It wasn't that bad was it? Pikachu managed to control his laughter enough to give Red a look that he could instantly translate.

'_Seriously bro. That shit is awful.'_

The commotion woke his other two Pokémon up and they both made their way over towards them. Charizard stuffing huffing once he saw the picture whilst Espeon was sympathetic and looked sheepishly away. Once again, it only took looks for Red to know what each of his Pokémon were saying to him.

'_Drawing is definitely not your thing bro.'_ Charizard told him laced with humour

'_Don't worry Red you'll find something.'_ Espeon added curling up against him in a comforting manner.

Red focused on his drawing, scrunching up his nose. He had gone for an abstract approach to the drawing, blurring the lines and adding as much contrast as possible. The idea had been to create something that the viewer would ponder over.

'_Whoever sees it would be pondering forever as to what that thing is!'_ Pikachu told him in their special way as he jumped up onto Red's shoulder. At this Red couldn't help but laugh. He scratched his best friend under the chin and crumpled up the drawing. Well at least it meant it ruled out one potential calling, it meant that he was one step closer to finding what that calling actually was.

"Wow! That is one hell of a Charizard!" All four of them jolted their heads towards a young woman with bright red hair, wearing baggy blue jeans and a black short sleeve shirt with a fire symbol in the middle that also revealed her midriff.

Red gulped and prayed to whatever gods that listened that she didn't recognise him. It was true that he had been incognito for a very long time and this was not his home region, but he was still a former champion and was once very well known. Thankfully he was not wearing his signature jacket or cap, instead sporting only his black undershirt, and he quickly brushed his raven black hair down into bangs so that they covered his blood red eyes.

"I mean what are you doing here? This is my personal training area." Red was taken aback by her sudden change of attitude, from amazed to domineering, but nevertheless he started to write down his response in the clipboard, assuming that she would not understand sign language.

"Wait can't you speak?" Red shook his head.

"But then how do you have Pokémon? How can you give them instructions? Wait have you trained them to respond to signs? That would be amazing if that's true!" Red stared at the young lady, mouth slightly agape and left eyebrow raised. Did she just switch to being amazed once again?

"Oh right yeah. This is where I come to train. I demand that you leave at once." Red simply shrugged.

"OK" he wrote down and showed her, before getting up and turning to leave with his team.

"No wait! That's not how this works!" The four friends turned once again, this time with incredulous looks on their face, at the girl who was now very frazzled.

"Um yeah… Look just let me battle your Charizard." Red shared a look with his mighty lizard, and after a small nod between them, Charizard let out a huge yawn, making a show of stretching out his limbs, and drooping his eyes extravagantly.

"He's too tired to battle." Red wrote down. The young woman marched up straight into his face, their noses almost touching. With one hand on her hip and other poking him in the chest, she stared him down fiercely.

"Look if you don't battle me, I'll report you Mr… uhm…." Her demeanour changed rapidly again, dropping her anger stance to a more meek one.

"Just battle me. Please." She clasped her hand together, her eyes wide, pleading for him to accept her challenge.

Red looked at her, confusion spread across his face. People called him weird but this girl was more than that, he would go so far as to say she was Zubat-shit crazy, and then she had to go and make whimpering noises, she really was freaking him out now. He was about to back away from her when he felt the large clawed hand of his Charizard on his shoulder, a small smile spread on the lizard's face. Red sighed and hung his head; the thing he had been trying to escape had already caught up to him. He nodded his head, accepting her challenge before staring pointedly at his Charizard who held his hands up apologetically whilst also giving Red the assurances that he was after.

"Yes! Alright let's get to it." she cried running towards the other end, her confident attitude returning. "Be warned puny challenger, I Flannery will… uhm… show you now mercy? Yeah show you no mercy! Prepare yourself…uhm… for being beaten."

Red couldn't help but snort. She was quite the ridiculous sight, but this Flannery did have quite the charm to her. With an over the top wind up she threw her first Pokéball, a Magcargo materialising from it. Charizard stepped forward, turning slightly towards Red, asking for confirmation. Red rolled his eyes and sighed, with a wave of his hand he told Charizard that he had permission to do his own thing, who promptly grinned, before facing his opponent fully.

* * *

He had to admire her spirit, even after it became obvious that Magcargo couldn't remotely cause Charizard any damage whatsoever, she pressed on, determined that she would at least cause Charizard to step backwards. Charizard to his credit had mostly kept his promise and reined in his offence greatly, reducing it to mere stomps and slaps rather than actually attacks. After Magcargo, Camerupt and Torkoal followed and then fell. Fire types he mused, at least explained her fascination with battling Charizard.

Once Torkoal had fallen, she slumped down onto her knees, her shoulders and head sagged down and she clasped her hands close to her chest. Red looked around helplessly, even before his years of isolation he had never been good with people. He tired to catch the eyes of his Pokémon in the event that they could help. But to his chagrin all three of them had other things to be doing. Both Charizard and Espeon had become fascinated by a rock, avoiding his look by any means necessary.

Pikachu on the other hand had been rummaging around in his backpack throwing items out until the little mouse had found what he had been looking for, Red's old sunglasses. The mouse turned towards Red, cocking an ear and giving Red a look that clearly meant _'She's your problem mate'_ before putting on the sunglasses and folding his little arms: _'Deal with it.'_

Resigned he made his way over to her. Leaning down he scratched the back of his head nervously. He placed a hand on her shoulder tentatively but was taken when she looked up at him, beaming in happiness.

"Thank you. That was amazing. I've always wanted to believe that fire types were the strongest and now you've just proven it!" She launched up and hugged him tightly. His Pokémon stared at him mouths gaping open. What on earth was going on?

"Oh right!" she quickly unlatched herself from him and put on her confident demeanour again. "I Flannery here by present… uhm.. give uhm… award? Yes award you the Heat badge." She stuttered through, dropping her line of sight down towards her feet, which were pointing straight at Red. She held out the badge for him, still refusing to look at him while twirling her hair with her free hand.

Red stared at the badge, he was surprised to learn that she was a gym leader, she didn't seem that strong, but then he was just that absurdly tough and she did find this place, a place which even had admitted would have been difficult to find for the more novice trainers. He took the badge carefully, he couldn't stop himself from remembering the days when winning a badge signified quite the accomplishment. Sighing contently he let nostalgia flow through him.

"So uhmm could I ask what were you doing here?" Flannery blushed and promptly looked away when he looked back up at her.

"Just taking in the sights. It's a nice place here."

"Yes it is, isn't it? I'm guess I'm lucky that I live so close to the most beautiful place on earth." Internally Red disagreed, but instead he simply nodded his head.

"So Fire Master how did you give your Charizard instructions? You didn't even give signs during our battle." She sat down and motioned for him to do the same. After he sat down, she made a movement that suggested she was going to move closer to him but she decided against it when she realised that he was looking at her. She blushed while Red looked at her oddly.

"So erm… instructions?" she muttered meekly.

"Well I kinda told Charizard to do his own thing before we started." He wrote down half heartedly, he didn't really want to tell her the truth in case he hurt her feelings, it probably wouldn't be good for her confidence to know that her opponent hadn't really participated in the battle.

"But how? Wow! How did it understand you?"

"I dunno. My Pokémon and I can just do that sort of thing. Years of training I guess." He replied pleasantly surprised.

"How long have you been training for?"

"Too long. I'm supposed to be retired."

"Oh." She nodded, looking down while she began to play with her hair. Red looked at her while they sat in silence, she really was an odd girl. He attempted a smile when she saw him staring at her but that quickly changed into a frown when she started to giggle.

"Hey what's that?" Too late Red reacted as she grabbed his crumpled and discarded drawing. He groaned internally as she unravelled it.

"Did you draw this?" he nodded.

Silence.

"Erm what is it?" she asked quietly.

"It's supposed to be Espeon and Charizard sleeping on that rock over there." He pointed towards said rock.

"Oh yeah, now I see it." she said a little too quickly. He raised an eyebrow.

"No really I think its cute." He snorted in response.

"Hey c'mon!" She laughed and poked him on the arm and chest.

"So erm.. do you want to get a drink?" she asked, fidgeting with her hair and arms. He shrugged non committedly, looking over to his Pokémon who shrugged as well. Turning back to her he nodded his head. The nervous girl beamed at him, jumping up onto her feat, pulling him up shortly after.

"Great. I know this place that sells the best milkshakes in the universe." She clasped his arms with hers after he recalled his Pokémon and led him down the volcano to the town located at the foot of it and into a small diner. Along the way she rapidly told him the history of town and the many must see attractions of it. He didn't really pay that much attention, he had been to many an impressive town before but nevertheless he nodded and smiled to remain polite. Eventually he was sat down at a table and was ordered a Lavaridge Oreo Milkshake by Flannery, who was continuing her story.

"So how is it?" Flannery asked after she had taken a sip through her straw. To her credit, this was the best drink that he could remember ever having, he sighed dreamily as he gulped down directly from his glass, he had not been given a straw.

He frowned at her when she had begun to giggle after he had taken his first gulp. She reached out towards him and with a finger wiped off the milky froth that had made a mustache on his face. She proceeded to lick the froth of her finger, licking her lips once she was done.

"Tasty" she remarked all the while never taking her eyes of Red. He stared at her a little freaked out. She blushed and started playing with her hair before starting up another story, this time about how she had become a gym leader.

* * *

"So anyway… It's getting late. There's a natural spa near the Pokémon centre. I normally go there at the end of each day to clean up. If you want you could join me?" Red checked the time, it was getting late and he needed to get going soon if he wanted to get to where he was staying for the night.

"You could stay over at my place. I wouldn't mind. You could take my bed." She replied after she had read his entry. Red politely refused, he didn't want to intrude himself upon her nor be the cause of her not having a bed for the night. She countered and they went at it for five minutes before Red put an end to an argument as he made to leave.

"Wait at least let me give you something." She grabbed his wrist firmly though she quickly released it when their eyes met.

"Stay here." She said as they exited the diner. She rushed of towards the gym, quickly returning with a small package in her hands.

"Sure you can't stay?" He shook his head. She bit her lip and looked down before offering him the package. He unwrapped it to find an expensive looking camera.

"I thought that if you like pictures that maybe you could take them instead of trying to draw them." She said with a smile on her face though with a hint of sadness which he failed to catch.

"Thank you." He wrote down before turning and walking out of the town.

"Wait!" she called out. "I didn't catch your name." He stopped in his tracks and wrote something down on his clipboard. Ripping the piece of paper off and crumpling it into a ball he threw it at her. She caught the ball but before she could read what he had written he saluted her and took off running into the horizon.

A smile crept onto her face and she let out small giggle as she watched his form get smaller and smaller. Hopefully she would see him again one day. Slowly she unravelled the paper, glancing down at it once he had completely disappeared. She took a second glance and her mouth dropped once she read the single word that he had written.

"Red."

* * *

**AN: And there's chapter two. And yeah random pairing (well kind of one-sided, hope you guys spotted Flannery's flirting and red's inability to notice) but that's kind of the point lol. I have ideas for chaps 3,4,5 and to the guest that was the first to review this, I will probably use that idea in the future, might not be on Mt silver though if that's OK. **

**Also I just want let you knows something. I've graduated from uni! Whoop Whoop! And I've got job as a Junior Developer for a company! (probs best not to name them for legal reasons lol) So yeah I'm out in the real world now, wish me luck! This also means that I won't be studying my arse of anymore, meaning actually having time in the evenings to do my hobby and write these things. yeah!**

**Anyways little life story over.**

**Thanks for reading**

**92fd**


	3. Criminals

**AN: I don't own Pokemon. C'mon do I seriously need to say that again.**

* * *

He had ignored them completely during his travels through Hoenn. Nothing about them appealed to him, they seemed frizzy and frankly they seemed like a stupid idea to him when he first saw one. But the one is this town was different. Though no architect himself, even he knew that this building was impressive. Large and expansive, it seemed as though it was designed with form rather than function in mind. For his practical and logical mind it was really was something to get his head around.

The second thing that made this one different was how busy and crowded it was. The other ones that he had passed during this little excursion of his had no where near this kind of excitement to them. Of all the wonderful things that were in this rather charming town, this was one that was most visited by both the local and tourist population.

He shook his head in disbelief, Lilycove City had so many other attractions yet this was the one that everyone went to. For starters there was the museum. Eons ago when he was still a rookie trainer he had visited Pewter Museum, he had never really appreciated museums and he didn't find Pewter Museum that interesting if he was being honest, but he could appreciate it none the less.

This though was on another level. The statues on the first floor were both fascinating and dauntingly large while the artwork on the second floor had him truly marvelling, putting his feeble attempts at drawing to utter shame (a fact that his little friend constantly reminded him of). He took so many snaps with his newly acquired camera that he nearly filled up all the space on his micro-SD card.

If that wasn't enough then there was the department store, the shopoholic's dream. When he first walked in he was reminded of the one in Celadon City, back then he had gone straight to the trainer's market, purchasing as many of those items as he could afford. This time he decided to browse around a bit more and see what other things were sold. There were clothes, ornaments, even furniture but in the end he and his little friend settled on some exotic spicy food.

The other place that he had a particular interest in was the Trainer Fan Club. When he saw it, he was torn. He had never known that trainer's had fan clubs before and he desperately wanted to see what it was like. But he worried as to whether one of them would recognise him. He had been fortunate so far on this trip, probably due to the fact his appearance had changed greatly, and the fact that he kept his signature clothing stashed away and unseen.

In the end curiosity got the better of him and he ventured inside. Luckily no one did recognise him, though he did get a few stares which he attributed to his eyes and his inability to speak. But after that initial awkwardness he thoroughly enjoyed the experience. These were true fans and he couldn't help but be drawn in to arguments over training and battling techniques, listening and telling stories about past travels and frequently discussing theoretical battles between famous trainers.

There were a few trainers that he recognised like Lance and Blue and others that he had never heard of before like Alder and Lucian. One theoretical battle that kept popping up was Ethan vs. Brendan, the argument caused loud and frantic arguments with the building, though it seemed Brendan had a higher percentage of fans. Apparently the two trainers were the best in the world right now. Both the most popular trainer from their respective regions, both fashion icons and both undefeated.

They said that both could possibly be the greatest trainer who ever lived. Of course the whole building went silent and he felt the eyes of everyone when he accidentally revealed that he didn't know either of them. People began to edge away from him before a kind young trainer who was visiting from the Jhoto region showed him a picture of the two and politely asked: "How on earth did he not know them?"

Naturally the first question he wrote down after the viewing the pictures was, "So what about Red?"

"Red? Wow you know that guy but don't know these two? Did you like get in a time machine seven years ago or something? Haha. Red was good, great even but I doubt he could hold a candle to Brendan let alone Mr Ethan Gold." He simply smiled and nodded before departing the fan club.

And so here he was, standing in front of the contest hall watching the people flock in and out around. It was the only attraction left for him to visit but his reservations from before kept him rooted to the spot. He sighed, he knew that he shouldn't have judged these contest things but in all honesty he thought they were simply a ridiculous concept. Looking down at his watch, he shrugged his shoulders, he had time to kill before he had to catch the ferry out.

With Pikachu on his shoulder he bravely ventured inside. The sheer mass of people almost got to him and he had to resist the urge to run out as fast as he could but after a quick slap from Pikachu he calmed himself down. Not long after he directed into one of the many queues that led to the large reception area.

"Which contest would you like to enter?" The receptionist asked him when he got to the front of the line not bothering to look up. He desperately tired to grab her attention but to no avail.

"Look Mr, would you please stop wasting my time and tell me what contest you would like to enter?" Another flapping session ensued.

"What is your problem? Oh…" She finally looked up to see him and read what he written down on his clipboard.

"Erm..sorry? So erm… what would you like… Oh sure you are free to look around the paintings hall, mingle with the competitors that are in the waiting area and you are allowed to use the Berry Blenders. But if you would like to see a contest you would have to purchase a ticket. You can either buy a single or purchase the season pass which would allow you to watch any amount of contest you want."

"A single? Sure but how about I sell you a season for the price of a single as way of an apology….Great. Thank you and here is your season pass. The next contest will be in half an hour, feel free to wander around till then."

Well at least that had turned out well, once he had seen this show, contest, thing, he could sell this season pass to someone who actually cared about this sort of thing. He wasn't poor by any such means but he appreciated the value of money and he would never miss an opportunity to make some quick cash.

* * *

"See you later Clarissa. Good luck at the contest!"

"Oh my god, Melanie did you see what Clarissa was wearing?"

"I know right, those clothes are so five years ago. What perfume was she wearing?"

"Probably some cheap knock off brand. She smells like a baby prostitute, she has no chance at the contest."

"And bringing a Blaziken to Cute Contest?"

"Some people just aren't up to scratch. Honestly I have no idea how she got this far. If it up to me I wouldn't let that kind of riffraff participate at all."

"Don't worry, I know the judges aren't going to enjoy her pick of Pokémon."

"Why?"

"My agent told me so." Melanie smirked.

"You're brilliant Melanie."

"I know but what about Cody? His Persian's coat looked amazing."

"Hush here he comes. Hey Cody how is it going? How's your Persian doing, can we see him?"

"Hello girls I'm good thanks. And you'll have to wait until the contest Regina. I want to keep him fresh."

"Please Cody, not even for a sec for your biggest fan?" Regina pouted draping her arms around Cody.

"Maybe later. Hey Melanie I think Karen wanted to see you."

"Oh thanks Cody. See you later Regina."

"So how do you fancy chances today Regina?"

"I think I stand a good chance." She said with a glint in her eye.

"Really? What about Melanie?"

"Not her time today." She said nonchalantly.

"And why is that?"

"Her poor Absol has a stomach infection and will probably be unable to compete."

"How do you know this?" She didn't reply but grinned devilishly at him.

"Oh you evil genius Regina. You really are a master." He grinned back at her kissing her forehead. A woman and a man approached the two.

"Regina darling I really have to word with you."

"Sure."

"In private if that's OK dear?"

"OK."

"So?" Cody asked the woman as the man and Regina left.

"I'd say there's a good chance that either she won't compete or would be too emotional to compete properly." Cody looked at the woman in glee yearning for her to go on.

"Her agent will have some bad news for her."

"How did you get him on our side?"

"He's a man darling."

Both he and Pikachu looked on, stunned at the scene before them. Back in the day when he still participated in tournaments battles it was not unheard of to be mean to your opponents but that was always done to your opponents face, if you didn't like someone you told that person directly or kept it to yourself. If trainers found out you were a two faced, you were in for a world of hurt.

And it was common place to try and psych out your opponent, mind games were an essential part of battles. He had successful played many mind games on his opponents, some of which he considered superior to him at the time. The silent and emotionless, almost dismissive façade that he put on had greatly helped him in many a battle.

But this was something else. True there had been underhand dealings in tournaments, passing around secrets about trainers' Pokémon was a prominent one, but that happened only in the shadows and was incredibly rare. This was though was down right sabotage and it wasn't exactly happening behind closed doors.

The more he saw of these contests the less he liked about them. What was the big deal about them and why did it cause this level of ruthlessness?

Quietly he made his way out of the competitors lounge and into the main hallway. Thankfully it was not as crowded as before, it seemed that all the competitors were in the lounge and some of the spectators had decided to visit the trophy rooms. What it did mean was that he was able to see the Berry Blending machines for the first time. There were four machines in all but only one of them had people around them. They were large metal cubes with a small hole in the centre covered by a plastic lid, and what seemed like four buttons at each of the top corners.

"Young man, would you like to join us? We have a free spot over here." He walked over towards the trio, writing down that he did not know what to do.

"It's simple, just place a berry into the blender and then press the button when the light tells you to. That makes the blender spin faster and that makes better blocks, also having more people makes better blocks. That's why I asked you to come over haha. You do have berries right? Good here you can have my old Pokéblock case."

Of the time he had spent so far in the contest hall, this was easily the most enjoyable. Blending berries was like a simple light-hearted game to see who had the best reflexes. After completing missing pressing his button when prompted to on his first couple of rounds, he quickly got the hang of it, timing his presses to perfection. They trio marvelled at his unprecedented ability to match the needle to his button perfectly, he smiled, this was nothing compared to the years spent on his mountain. If he hadn't had built his reflexes to the point that they were know he simply wouldn't have survived.

After the trio decided to leave, he had seven differently coloured Pokéblocks. Pikachu had been watching the process and took a liking to the olive, purple and red Pokéblocks quickly devouring the three. That left him with brown, blue, green and indigo blocks. He considered calling out Snorlax as he knew that the big Pokémon would love any sort of food but thought better of it, what if giant teddy bear loved the taste and went in search for more? Instead he called out Blastoise and Venusaur to share the remaining blocks. Blastoise would not go near the blue or indigo blocks, instead going straight for the brown, while Venusaur enjoyed the green while being indifferent to the rest.

"Competitors please make your way to backstage area. Would all spectators make their way to the viewing area, the Contest will start in five minutes." Finally the moment had arrived. He could once and for all see what all the fuss was about. With Pikachu on his shoulder and followed by Blastoise and Venusaur, the quartet made their way into the staging area, not noticing the many glance and stares they received from the other spectators or furious note taking of agents who trailed them.

Five minutes later the lights went out and the contest began.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the Master Rank Cute Super Contest here in the great city of Lilycove! I'm your host Vivian Meridian. All right lets now meet the contestants and begin the first stage of the competition."

He knew nearly chocked on the popcorn that he had bought just before he entered when the competitors came out. Not only were the competitors dressed up but so were their Pokémon, in matching outfits to boot. They posed for the judging panel strutting their stuff to the symphony of spectators cheering for their favourite ones. He looked around him mouth agape at the other spectators, how on earth could they find this interesting? But even if that was not to his tastes what followed had him near crying.

"All right! Next up the dance routines!" Vivian announced.

He looked on in horror as both the Pokémon and their respective competitors, trainers, he wasn't sure what to call them, performed dance routines for the judges and spectators. All three of his Pokémon squirmed beside him as they looked on uncomfortably. The world really had changed around them. Fortunately there were put out of their misery not long after.

"I'm sure you'll all agree that those routines were simply fantastic. But now we must crown a winner. So let's get to the final part! The appeal stage!"

The third and final stage of the contest intrigued him. In it the competitors and their Pokémon performed moves but not in the traditional sense. Instead they performed their moves to show off certain aspects or to create wondrous stage and structures around them. He had to admit that this different concept had entertained him, as he was amazed by ways in which the competitors applied their moves.

After the appeals, the judges gave out their scores and declared a winner, May and her Skitty were declared the winners and were awarded a ribbon and a flowery stage looking thing which he couldn't see properly. He clapped along while the rest of the spectators gave a rapturous ovation, it seemed as though she was quite the popular person around here. She did deserve the win he thought, her Skitty's routine was by far the most impressive of the lot, he was particularly impressed with the ice sculpture that Skitty had produced with its Blizzard.

The quartet made their way out of the staging area shortly after to avoid the mass exodus that would eventfully follow and so that they could catch their ferry. He gave his Pikachu a snide look as he pictured the little mouse all dressed up in one of those costumes. It earned him a smack and threat of a shocking, but he felt it was worth it nevertheless.

"Excuse me Sir. My name is Telia, I am coordinator agent." Coordinators so that's what they are called he mused as the woman he had seen with Cody approached him.

"I couldn't help but notice you and your Pokémon watching the contest just now. Are you a coordinator? And do you have an agent." He shook his head to both questions.

"Wonderful!" Her face lit up.

"Your Pokémon appear to be in magnificent condition. The flower on your Venusaur is the largest and most beautiful I have ever seen, your Blastoise's shell looks tougher than the strongest steel and your Pikachu, I've never seen a cuter Pokémon." Both Venusaur and Blastoise wore huge grins on their face and shot smirks at Pikachu who glared at the agent, the little mouse hated to be called cute.

"With my help I can make you one of the best coordinators around."

"Don't listen to her! My agency is much better."

"Don't pick either of them. I can help you reach the top."

The four were taken aback when they found themselves surrounded by numerous agents. They were pulling at the bit to get him, pushing, kicking and punching their way to the front, desperately trying to get a piece of him.

"Hey there hot stuff." Suddenly he felt arms drape around him and he was pulled down to look into the face of Regina.

"How about you, that cuite on your shoulder and I get better acquainted. I think we can really help each other out." She said seductively, drawing him closer to her but before she pulled him into an embrace she was hit by a bolt of electricity.

Pikachu it seemed had not taken kindly to being called cute for a second time. The bolt itself had been quite weak but strong enough to fling her back onto the ground in surprise. For a moment she stared at them in shock before suddenly starting to wail out. He scratched his head unsure of what to do, he leaned down to try and help the girl but she scurried away from him.

"Officer! That man assaulted me!" she cried out. Almost immediately two policemen flanked him and a policewoman helped Regina up.

"What happened sister?" He groaned, he couldn't believe his luck.

"I was walking past and accidentally brushed that man. He then ordered his Pikachu to attack me." He desperately shock his head and failed his arms trying to get across that he had done nothing of the sort.

"Ordering your Pokémon to attack another person is a grave offence. You'll be coming with us."

The female officer gave the order to her fellow policemen to handcuff him and take him into custody. But unfortunately for them they hadn't considered his Pokémon. As the two officers approached, both Blastoise and Venusaur sprung into action, knocking the two policemen out.

"Resisting arrest!" The female officer shouted but was silenced but another bolt from Pikachu. He let out an exasperated sigh looking at his Pokémon who simply laughed back. Shaking his head, he recalled both Blastoise and Venusaur and ran out of the contest hall with Pikachu following closely behind. Checking his watch he saw that he could still make his ferry out but he was halted in his tracks but a whole squadron of police.

If it were up to him he would have given himself up and explained the situation but unfortunately his best friend was a mischievous little mouse. Pikachu confidently stepped in front of him and blasted away officers and their vehicles clearly a path for them to run through.

He didn't stop running all the way to the harbour, flashing his ticket to the guard just as the guard was closing said entrance to allow the ship to set of. He didn't stop running until he was on the second deck of the ship looking back at the harbour as the ship let out a mighty horn to signify that it had set sail.

"Stop that ship!" The police came into view as they turned the corner into the harbour, but it was too late. The ship was out in the open waters now, he had made it out relatively unscathed.

He let out a relieved sigh before glaring angrily at his friend who had caused the trouble that they had gotten them into returning his glare with a sheepish smile. His glare softened and he scratched his friend behind the ear. He would get his revenge on his friend later.

By way of a dress.

* * *

**AN: First of I would like to apologies to people who enjoy and like contests. I enjoyed them in the games as well but I'm not sure that it would be Red's cup of tea and I kinda enjoyed putting him in that situation, a completely alien environment to him.**

**So yeah that was chapter three. Hope you guys enjoyed it! Stay tuned for the next one. No promises for when it'll be out. I'm absolutely shattered after my first week of proper work, I need time to recharge and catch up on sleep (I have to get up at 5.30 to get to work) lol.**

**Also to the more astute readers, you might be able to figure out the personalities that I gave Red's Pokemon that featured in this chapter. One is obvious but the other two might not be so. Drop it in a review if you think you know.**

**92fd out.**


	4. Goal Time!

**AN: Still don't own anything!**

* * *

He stared at it in confusion. He knew exactly what it was, he just didn't know why it was here of all places. Surely it should be in an amusement park or some kind of sports arena. Not in the middle of a forest path in between towns.

Speaking of which he had no clue where this path led to, he had been taking snaps of a Mr Mime and its trainer practising together whilst in a waterfall. He thought that it would be a great photo opportunity but it seemed that the trainer thought he had been spying on him and taken offence. After a few threats he made a mad dash for it, not wanting to get into any more trouble than he already had been on this vacation.

And now here he found himself looking square at a trampoline that was blocking his path. At least Pikachu was having a good time, the little mouse had loved every single minute of this trip so far and now was bouncing up and down on the trampoline with no abandon. He shrugged his shoulders, not finding an adequate reason as to why a trampoline would be directly in front of him.

Grinning he decided that while it was there he might as well make the most of it. He jumped up and joined Pikachu, the two buddies bouncing up and down, pushing each other while performing silly tricks at the same time. Suddenly a Hitmonlee appeared out of nowhere and kicked both of them off.

"Hey this is my training area! What do you think you're doing?" A young man with brown hair appeared, wearing glasses and a lab coat that looked too big for him, and holding a laptop in one hand. The man looked younger than he was but stood over his now dirt ridden form with great authority.

"Explain yourself Mr. This is delicate equipment vital to my training."

He stared at the trampoline and then back at the man. How exactly was a trampoline delicate equipment and what kind of training was this? He had run into more science based trainers on his past travels but they were all about food nutrition and specific exercises, never had he seen a trampoline been used for battles before.

"Well! What are you doing here?" He quickly got out his clipboard and pen, and explained the situation.

"Oh you're a mute?" The man took a few steps back. He nodded in answer to the question but internally he sighed, how was it that even after all these years that he had been gone, the world still treated people with disabilities differently form everyone else.

"Well yeah, OK, just leave me be would you." The man asked him. He nodded indicating that he would indeed take his leave but asked him where the nearest town was.

"Follow this path and you'll get to the Camellia Town. Now get out of here before I call the cops." The man visibly flinched and shrunk back away from him as he shot him a glare. He left the man to his training and went in search of this Camellia Town, his mood greatly deteriorated.

It wasn't long before he found Camellia Town. The town was what you would call a small sleepy town not unlike his hometown of Pallet. Though like Pallet it did have one rather impressive feature, but instead of large and expansive Pokémon laboratory, Camellia Town had a medium sized dome shaped stadium.

The stadium was a puzzle to him, it wasn't anything like a typical Pokémon stadium. Instead of a battle arena there was a large overall ring separated into tracks by white lines and in the centre of the ring were two football fields side by side. In addition to the track and the field were some compartments that housed different set ups but if he could compare them to anything he would have said that they were similar to boxing or sumo rings.

"Do you uhm need some help? Uhm.,,. You uhm look a little lost." One of the many trainers that surrounded the dome approached him flanked by a Steelix, Magneton and Skarmory. She looked oddly familiar like he had seen her before. She had long light brown hair that stuck up in two short spikes just above her ears. She wore a white and blue dress that matched her light blue eyes.

"Yeah what is this?" He wrote down.

"This is the uhm… the Pokéathlon. Uhm…This first one that's being held in Sinnoh." She said nervoudly. He looked back at the stadium still confused.

"Have you uhm heard of uhm a Pokéathlon before?" She asked kindly "They're uhm more popular back home in uhm Johto." He turned back to face the nervous girl, smiling at her he asked her if she could explain them for him though he still had that nagging sensation in the back of his mind that he ought to have known her.

She really was a sweet girl as she stuttered through her explanation. He wondered if she had a speech impediment or was just really nervous. Either way she was incredibly kind and detailed explaining the ins and outs of the Pokéathlon.

Once she had finished explaining the concept he was instantly hooked on the idea. This was something that he and his Pokémon could participate in together and potentially do rather well in. The problem that faced him though was that he had no idea which course he should take part in. There were five courses in total, Speed, Power, Stamina, Jump and Skill. Each with three events that varied depending of which course was chosen. In addition to this he could only choose three Pokémon for a course.

"I can help you uhm choose, uhm if you want? My uhm course doesn't start till tomorrow." He beamed at her before releasing the rest of his Pokémon to explain to them what was going on.

The two deliberated for quite a while. Espeon and Pikachu would obviously be ideal for the more speed based events, Venusaur the more skilled based events, Blastoise and Snorlax the power and stamina based events while Charizard was the all rounder.

They quickly ruled out the Stamina course that would be held tomorrow as though both Snorlax and Blastoise would be great choices for the Block Smash and Ring Drop events, both of them would lack the speed necessary for the Relay Run. Soon after they dropped other course that would happen tomorrow, the Skill Course. While Venusaur would have been great for the Snow Throw event he would have been found lacking in the Three-a-Side Football Tournament event and only Charizard of his other Pokémon could provide the all round competitiveness that was needed for Permanent capture . Similarly they ruled out the Jump Course as though either Pikachu or Espeon would be good in the Hurdle Jump and Charizard great one for the Land Jump, they struggled to choose a third for the Disc Catch.

That left the Speed and Power Courses. He smiled it was obviously going to come down to these two courses. His team was spilt into Speed based and Power based Pokémon. Now it was time to decide which direction to go in.

The Speed Course featured the Hurdle Jump, Permanent Capture and the Relay Run. Like they discussed before both Pikachu and Espeon would be good options for the Hurdles and could both be competitive in the Relay. Charizard could be the third providing strength needed for Permanent Capture whilst not letting up too much on speed for the relay.

But the Speed Course had two individual based events and only one full team event. Even though his Pokémon were incredibly well trained, they would still be competing in events for their very first time. And though this Pokéathlon was aimed at the more novice competitors, their opponents had all participated in previous competitions.

This is was where the Power Course came in hand. Unlike the Speed Course it had only one individual based event, the Block Smash, and had two full team events, the Circle Push and the Three-a-Side Football Tournament. He had one thing that his opponents didn't have. Years of experience with his Pokémon. They all knew each other inside out and excelled in anything that required teamwork.

His initial thought was to go with a team that consisted of Snorlax, Blastoise and Charizard with Snorlax participating in the Block Smash however the girl argued that team would struggle in the final event, the football tournament where pace and agility was a must have. In addition even though his team was strong they could still be out muscled in the Circle Push, plus power alone would not be enough in that event, manoeuvrability and strategy played crucial roles. In the end they decided upon a team of Snorlax providing the muscle, Pikachu providing the agility and speed with Charizard completing the team providing an all round contribution. After registration the two went about planning his victory.

* * *

There were three other trainers that were competing in the Power Course, a trainer from Hoenn by the name of Harrison, a man from Johto called Primo and the local favourite, Maylene a gym leader from Sinnoh who specialised in fighting types.

The first event would be the Block Smash, in it Pokémon were given five minutes to break as many concrete blocks as they could, for every block they broke one point would be awarded. One Pokémon was allowed to have a go at breaking the blocks but they were allowed to switch out if they got too tired.

"All right athletes! It's now time to show us the three Pokémon you will use for the course!" The announcer yelled earning a cheer form the crowd.

Harrison went first, showcasing three Hoenn Pokémon, an Aggron, a Hariyama and a Blaziken. Primo followed with Machamp, Rhydon and Granbull. Maylene who got the loudest cheer went next with Lucario, Meditite and Machoke. Finally he stepped up releasing Snorlax and Charizard with Pikachu jumping of his shoulder.

The dome went silent when Pikachu stepped up, a few laughs and giggles were heard around causing to Pikachu to drop his cheerful demeanour, folding his little arms and glaring at the crowd. However he was not fazed, the strategy he had devised meant that Pikachu would not play a part in this initial round, the little mouse's time would come in the final event, the football tournament.

Snorlax, Machamp, Aggron and Machoke stepped up to their respective plates with their team-mates close behind them. There would be little their trainers could do for them in this round other than provide water and towels when they needed to switch out, and to replace the broken blocks with new ones.

The sound of the gun firing signified the start of the round. Mahcamp, Aggron and Machoke set off at a breathtaking pace spurred on by their trainers and their fans, smacking their blocks with all their worth in an effort to break them. Snorlax was far more sedate and obviously did not receive any words of encouragement from him. This drew yet more laughs from the crowd but he knew there was a method to their madness.

Around them, their competitors switched out as the Pokémon rapidly tired themselves out but Snorlax prodded on, placing his hits rather than going for all out power. This continued for four minutes, Primo was out in front by whisker to Maylene with Jonah a bit further behind and Snorlax way behind the three of them.

He nodded and gave Snorlax the signal. The giant bear smiled and let out a mighty roar, before slamming his fist down, breaking all the blocks stacked in front of him. Charizard, Pikachu and he sprang into action quickly replacing the smashed blocks only for Snorlax to break them almost instantly. The crowd looked on in shock and amazement as the team repeated the processes. Around them other teams looked on helplessly as they desperately tried to keep pace to stay out in front. But Snorlax was not to be denied, his fists now wreaking balls reigning down destruction, sending concrete splinters to all corners.

A buzzer went of signifying the end of the round. Snorlax instantly sat down panting slightly after his massive last minute excursion. He grinned at his big bear, giving the bear a well deserved tummy massage along with long draught of cold water. His plan had worked, around him all members of the other teams were tired, sweating and panting heavily. Charizard and Pikachu on the other hand were both still fresh.

A minute later the results were announced. Harrison had finished last with eighty-seven blocks broken. Primo had come third with ninety-four. In second place with ninety-nine were he and Snorlax. Maylene had beaten them by a mere two points with a score of one hundred and one.

After a five minute cool down session, the second event was about to start, the Circle Push. It would consist of six rounds of one minute each. The goal was to have as many of your Pokémon in the circles at the end of each round. In the first there would be one large circle worth ten points for every one of your Pokémon in it, the second and third rounds would have two circles worth twenty and thirty points each, the fourth would have three circles worth twenty, thirty and fifty while the fifth and six rounds would again have three circles this time with two worth thirty and one worth fifty. The higher the value of the circle, the smaller it would be.

This event would be his weakest round, the other Pokémon, in particular Harrison's and Primo's teams were built around power and were ideal for this event. But as long as he stayed in contention he knew that he could win with the final event. Once again he had to use a strategy that come from well outside of the box.

The buzzer went signifying the start of the first round. In flew Charizard right into the middle of the circle before anyone else could. The orange dragon roared and snarled, stopping the opponent Pokémon in their tracks. He challenged any Pokémon to even dare enter his circle and when one tried, the mighty lizard sprang into action stopping said Pokémon form entering.

Eventually though the other Pokémon got over the shock and scare tactics of Charizard and the numbers game caught up to him. But what Charizard had done was to allow Snorlax and Pikachu to enter the circle completely unopposed. The giant Pokémon then proceeded to lie down on his belly, protecting Pikachu with his arms. With his immense weight and with Charizard running interference, both Snorlax and Pikachu were impossible to move. The buzzer rang ending the first round and giving his team twenty well earned points.

The team initially tried the same tactics again for the next round but the other teams caught on to what they were trying to do and made every effort possible to stop them. Snorlax and Charizard were forced into wrestling the other Pokémon and Pikachu whad stay out of trouble for the most part, the team would try to make enough of a gap for Snorlax to deadweight himself in a circle and then for Pikachu to run into his arms and with Charizard protecting them the team to ensure consistent points.

The buzzer rang again ending the sixth and final round. Primo was now on top with-two hundred and fifty-four points. Maylene was second with two hundred and forty- three with Harrison a close third with two hundred and forty-one. They were in last with two hundred and thirty-seven. But all was not lost, Pikachu was still fresh while all of the other Pokémon were nearing their limits.

The final event was the Three a Side Football Tournament. All three teams would play each other. Teams were awarded twenty-five points for a win and ten points for a draw, you won by being the first to score five goals or whoever had scored the most goals at the end of the second of five minutes halves. One member of the team would be nominated as the goalie and would be allowed to use their hands in the area. If they won all their games they would win.

Their first game would be against the leader Primo. Snorlax would be in goal, Charizard being their midfield enforcer and Pikachu would be their nimble striker. Primo set up with Rhydon in goal, Machamp in midfield and Granbull upfront. Each trainer would act as manger of the team would relay tactics to their respective Pokémon.

The whistle starting the game blew and Pikachu immediately got and dribbled around Granbull. Machamp raced to stop the little mouse was left dumbfounded when the mouse sent the football between its leg and ran around him. Pikachu advanced on Rhydon who charged out to meet him but Pikachu squared the ball to Charizard leaving an open net for Charizard to make it one-nil.

Grandbull kicked of to start again, exchanging passes with Machamp. He told Pikachu to shadow Granbull but not to commit to the tackle while he gave instructions to Charizard to put as much pressure on Machamp as possible. The tactic paid off as Machamp played a loose pass which was picked up by Pikachu who raced on goal, only having Rhydon to beat, Pikachu feinted right but went left leaving Rydon flat on his back making it two-nil.

Primo's team were shell shocked, they tried to force the pace in a desperate attempt to get back into the game. He told them to sit back and shadow the play, waiting for the inevitable mistakes to come before counter attacking fast and hard. And those mistakes did come, another sloppy pass sent Pikachu through on goal again and just a few minutes later a poor first touch from Granbull allowed Pikachu to steal the ball and race down the wing, crossing for easy headed goal for Charizard. Primo's team were desponded and had resigned themselves to loosing. They only played now to stop the fifth goal.

The team switched tactics again, making the pitch as wide as possible, with Snorlax helping out as a sweeper keeper, their aim now was to tire the opposition out to open up a gap and deliver the killer blow. Charizard passed back to Snorlax who under no pressure at all brought the ball forward. The bear kept going until he nearly reached the halfway line causing Machamp to think about closing him down. That split second indecision was enough, Pikachu lost his marker allowing Snorlax to play him in. One on one, Pikachu finished the game with a controlled finish past the keeper.

5-0 before half time. Primo had been decimated, the team celebrated before going to watch the other game that was taking place. It was incredibly close but Maylene's team managed to nick the win 2-1. The scores were now Maylene in first with tow hundred and sixty eight, they were close behind in second with two hundred and sixty two and Primo and Harrison in third and last with two hundred and fifty four and two hundred and thirty seven respectively.

There next game would be against Harrison. From watching his game against Maylene they knew it would be a much tougher challenge than Primo. They played a physical defensive style with Aggron acting as their hard nosed defender and Hariyama had been exceptional in goal against Maylene. But the real threat was Blaziken who combined impressive strength, speed and most importantly skill. If they were to win they had to nullify Blaziken's threat, a feat that Charizard could accomplish but that would leave their star player Pikachu open for assault from Aggron. That had to pick their tactics correctly.

The second game started and immediately Harrison's team played defensively, they let the team come at them, but making sure that they could not get in behind them. They reduced the team to taking long shots from well outside the area. They grew frustrated and they overcommitted. Aggron stole the ball from Pikachu and sent Blaziken through on goal. A step-over wrong footed Snorlax and Harrison's team were 1-0 up.

If they were defensive before they were even more so now. They nullified the team's attack, completely taking Pikachu out of the game. It remained 1-0 all the way to half time. The team needed something to rouse them, and reinvigorate them. He gave them long pep talk deploring them so show more passion and fire.

The team went out into the second half full of confidence and energy. They dominated possession, and ran rings around their opponents, creating chance after chance. But their goalkeeper Hariyama proved to be their equal, keeping them at bay. Time was running out, they couldn't afford to loose this game, he called for Snorlax to go up and provide the extra man but still Harrison's team were able to hang on.

With two minutes left to go, Snorlax misplaced a pass to Pikachu. Blaziken stole the ball and dashed forward. The goal was at its mercy, it shot and started to celebrate a goal that surely meant victory. But it was denied as Charizard came sliding across, somehow scooping the ball above the bar with his leg before slamming into one of the posts. He rushed onto the pitch to check on the mighty lizard who was a little slow to get up. Charizard gave him a toothy grin and thumbs up signifying he was OK and good to go.

He ran off the field after checking on Charizard. They now had a corner to defend and not much time left to get up the other end. He told Pikachu to stay up. It was a gamble but a gamble they needed to take. Blaziken took the corner looking for the head of Aggron. But the brave dragon would not be toppled, he rose above the iron armoured Pokémon and headed the ball away, as soon as his feat touched the ground he ran for the ball with all he had to get to it before Blaziken did. Charizard dived feat first, kicking out with his foot in last ditch effort to get the ball to Pikachu.

He got there.

Pikachu now had the ball with only Hariyama to beat. The little mouse was through, he went right taking the ball away from Hariyama, he was about to score but his feat were taken away from him and the ball went away from him. The referee blew for a foul.

Penalty.

Pikachu got himself up and dusted himself down. He went up to Charizard and had a short conversation. The orange dragon nodded and stepped forward. He took the ball from the referee and placed it down on the spot. Hariyama waved his arms in an attempt to put Charizard of, the dragon wiped the sweat of his brow before taking his run up. Hariyama dived to his right only to see Charizard chip the ball down the middle.

A few seconds later the referee blew his whistle. They had done it, they had clawed out a draw. In the other game Maylene had beaten Primo giving her a twenty one point lead over them. They had to beat Maylene if they wanted to win.

Maylene's team were incredibly well rounded. Machoke was the rush goalie, coming in to help out whenever possible, Meditite was their nimble striker but their star was Lucario who ran their midfield and could both equally attack and defend. By now both teams were running on their last fumes but would give one final effort to win.

And so it began, the game itself was not very pretty as is normally the case in most football finals. Both teams were cagey and slightly defensive. Charizard was marking Meditite out of the game while Lucario prevented any balls from getting to Pikachu. However Machoke was beginning to make an impact on the game, coming forward and making the extra man, Maylene's team were beginning to boss possession and just before half time Lucario found himself free inside the box. The fox like Pokémon blasted a shot towards the top right hand corner. Everyone expected the ball to hit the back of the net but with unbelievable agility, Snorlax dived and tipped the around the post.

The team made it to half time unscathed but Maylene's trio were really piling on the pressure, keeping it on them as teams came out after half time. Charizard and Pikachu were tiring out very quickly as they ran from side to side in an effort to contain the trio and prevent them from getting in behind. The task at hand was getting ever more difficult, Snorlax was called into action again as Machoke tried his luck from distance. Soon after Meditite lost its marker, Pikachu, and should have scored, Snorlax somehow sticking out a leg and blocking the shot.

They were defending deep now, right on the edge of their box. The ball came to Lucario inside the area, who swas tightly marked by Charizard. The fox Pokémon backed into the lizard before going turning right. Charizard stuck out a leg in an effort to tackle, but he realised that he would not be able to get the ball. The hero from the last game tried to get his leg out of the way but Lucario was too wily, the fox allowed itself to be hit by Charizard's leg and it toppled over.

Penalty.

With a minute to go, it seemed like the end of the road for the team. Lucario took the ball confidently and placed it on the spot. Snorlax made himself as big as possible but it was written on his face how nervous he was. Lucario took two steps before stopping in its tracks. It took two more steps before kicking the ball aiming for the bottom left corner. Snorlax dived.

Save.

The crowd couldn't believe it. Neither could Lucario or the rest of Maylene's team. Lucario stood there completely still, mouth wide open, amazed at that fact that he had missed. They were so shocked in fact that they missed the ball being taken by Pikachu who was now running up the field as fast as he could. Meditite was the first to react, calling out for help from the other two Pokémon but Pikachu was two fast for him and Lucario was down the other end of the field, too far away to help. Machoke was the last Pokémon back and well outside its area, as it was still playing the sweeper keeper role. From forty yards out Pikachu attempted a lob over Machoke's head.

He didn't hear the roars of the crowd, instead all of his attention was focused on the flight of the ball. Machoke back-pedalled as fast as it could as the ball flew over its head. It seemed to stay in the air for ever before it finally began to drop down. He jumped up from his seat and raised his arms in the air. Machoke was not going to get there. The ball dropped, and dropped, it was so close now, just a little more.

It hit crossbar.

His arms dropped and he looked on in disbelief as the ball ricocheted up and off the crossbar. A glance at the clock told him that there was only thirty seconds left. All hope was lost.

But out of nowhere came the head of Snorlax. The giant somehow making his way up the field keeping up with the rest of them and being the first one on the scene.

He headed the ball.

The net rattled.

Snorlax had scored.

They had won the Power Course.

The team erupted and ran in towards Snorlax for a massive group hug. They would have lifted Snorlax into the air but of course his great weight was too much for them.

* * *

The quartet admired the gold cup that they had been awarded. It had been not been easy and has posed quite the challenge for them but what it had done was to give them that competitive feeling back again. The joy of winning was once again flowing through them.

"Well done." Their coach had come over to congratulate them. They thanked her profusely, without her they could have achieved this.

"I uhm have something uhm for you. It was uhm given to me but uhm I think uhm you'll need it more."

She handed him a heavy dark red cloak. He didn't know what it was made of but whatever it was, it was incredibly comfortable. It made him feel warm in an instance and it even had a hood to keep his head warm as well.

"Thanks but why give to me?" He wrote down.

"You're uhm travelling uhm through Sinnoh uhm right? It can be uhm cold so uhm this will keep you warm."

"Thank you." After a brief moment of silence, the two awkwardly realised that this would where they would say goodbye.

"I guess this is where I say goodbye huh?" She merely nodded.

"Well then it was a pleasure meeting you. I hope to see you again someday." He offered his head which she shook. He turned to leave, taking a couple of steps but realised something and walked back to her.

"Hey I didn't get your name?" He wrote.

"Jasmine."

Jasmine? Bells went off in his head again. This girl and that name sounded really familiar. For some reason he kept thinking of when he was still champion of the Indigo Plateau and meeting gym leaders but how was that related to this girl. He couldn't place and he eventually gave up.

"Like I said it was nice to meet you Jasmine and I hope to see you again one day."

Again she nodded and shook his hand. He smiled at her before taking his leave, once again returning to his quest. She turned away as well, heading back to the dome to prepare for her own course that would be held tomorrow. She sighed and reminisced over a past event.

"It was good to see you again Red."

* * *

**AN: What two chapters in two days? What is this madness? Madness? This is Spar- what no more uni feels like! A completely free ****weekend! I actually would have had this out earlier but for a little thing called Wimbledon final. And C'mon Murray! Finally a British winner!**

**So back to the chapter. As you can tell I took a bit of creative license with the Pokeathlon, hope you guys don't mind too much. And to those of you from America, I am from the UK (London bruv!) so naturally I am going to call football football and not soccer! :P**

**Also another random pairing with Red still painfully oblivious to everything that comes his way. And can anyone who it was who made a cameo at the beginning?**

**So once again thanks for reading this pretty long chapter (not sure how it got so long and don't expect the other chapters to be this long lol).**

**92fd out.**


	5. Perfection

He groaned as he awoke from his slumber. His head still spinning from the night before. He felt a something shuffle next to him, he looked over and grinned, placing a hand on his aching head. Last night had been a fantastic night. Delicately he untangled himself from the mass of bodies and limbs that lay on his bed, managing to do so without waking anyone up.

Admiring the many beautiful bodies that were deep in slumber, he couldn't help but have a few cheeky rubs, gropes and spanks here and there, they weren't exactly going to feel them and it wasn't like the girls hadn't let him touch them the night before. He chuckled, they had let him do so much more than just touching.

He was about to walk into his bathroom for his morning routine; relieve himself, wash out his mouth and take a shower to both clean himself and to wake him up. But it seemed that two girls had a bit too much fun last night. One slept in the shower while the other had her head propped up by the toilet, a small section of his pristine bathroom covered by a pool of vomit. Groaning he tip-toed around it, making his way to the toilet, he moved the girl propped up on it, not caring where she landed, so that he could go about his business.

After washing his mouth and deciding against having a shower, moving the girl in it would be too much hassle, he walked into his living room. Cans, bottles, boxes, crates and even a couple of kegs littered the place. The curtains were ripped, the table had a leg missing and there were stains all over his couch and carpet. His many trophies were scattered all over the place, many now with large and numerous dents and cracks in them. But he didn't care about the mess, he didn't care that he found underwear or a used johnny under his ripped cushion, he didn't care about the lines of white powder on his table.

No, the only thing on his mind was finding his Pokéballs.

He knew he was living the dream, he had fame, money and girls. But he would trade all of them away in an instance for his companions. Without them he was a nobody, an insignificance, without them he would be nothing at all.

He found one ball under his couch, another draped in a thong. He cursed himself as he found the third in the bin, of all the things that should go in the bin, this was most definitely not one of them. Looking up he spotted the fourth, taped onto the ceiling, he managed to knock it down with a traffic cone that somehow got into his room. Desperately he searched for his remaining two Pokéballs, tearing his living room apart, causing even more mess than before. For several minutes he searched before moving to the kitchen, perhaps they were there. He was rewarded soon enough, the fifth was in his box of cereals. Now if only he could find the sixth.

His head pounded, as he tried to rack his foggy memory of where he left his sixth ball, but his head would not let him. It cried out in agony, seeking rest and comfort. He tried fighting it but it was simply no good, slamming his fist against the kitchen table he decided to make himself a cup of tea, perhaps that would clear up his hangover and allow him to think straight.

Reaching down into his fridge he pulled out a bottle of milk. He did a double take, his eyes widening. Of all the places that it could have ended it up, how in everything that was holy had it ended up in the milk? Surely it couldn't even fit through could it? Yet there it was, sloshing in and around the milk.

He tried coaxing his final ball out by gently squeezing the plastic bottle, pushing the ball up the neck but the ball refused to go through the hole at the top. He tried lubricating the rim to reduce friction, he tried widening the hole to the point that anymore would have sent milk flying everywhere. But the ball would not give up its vigil, stubbornly refusing to exit the milk bottle.

Growling at the ball and bottle of milk, he dropped in into the sink. He hated defeat, he would not allow anything to beat him, not one blemish was allowed to be on his record. He sighed in resignation, he was not going to have his hangover tea cure it seemed. Reluctantly he took out a knife from his draw. Milk poured down the drain in the sink as he cut open the bottle but finally he had his six closet friends back together again.

Clutching the balls tightly into his chest, he made his way back into his living room. It was in an even worse state than before. He sighed, someone really ought to clean this place up, but firsts things first he needed to find some clothes to put on and get some breakfast. His cupboard was in his room but he really didn't want to go back in there, he might wake those girls up and then he might have to have those morning after conversations or even worse one of them could get the idea that she was his girlfriend. And anyways he doubted if his cupboard would be anything like how he remembered it.

Placing his Pokéballs in safe and easy to get to location, he went after his mobile. It wasn't long before he found it, smiling to himself he dialled a number. The phone rang a couple of times before it was finally answered.

"Good morning Ethan."

"Yo Lyra babe. How's it going? Listen I've got a problem. I like have no clothes and I kinda need to go out and train today. Plus I know there's that shop that sells my clothing brand almost right next to where you live. So if you could be a darling and pick up a set for me that would be awesome."

"Huh….Why do you not have any clothes?"

"You know how it is babe. The champ's gotta have a massive rave before he hits the training. Things get out of hand and stuff happens. So you gonna help me out or what?"

"…yes I will."

"Cheers babe, you're a life saver. Also if you could pick up some breakfast for me on your way that would be great. And make sure that you get my tea right. I don't want it to be scolding again like last time. Cheers."

He hung up his phone and vaulted onto his now banged up sofa and three legged table over towards his TV which had remarkably escaped the previous night unscathed. Turning it on he decided to pass the time till Lyra arrived by watching some kind of program. Flicking through channels he finally found something that interested him, the news.

"Once again our top story this morning, Ethan and Brendan have agreed to face each other in an exhibition match, putting their undefeated streaks on the line. No word on the date yet…."

The anchor then went on to detail both trainers' rise to the tops of their respective region (and in Ethan's case a very nice highlight package of his epic with Blue Oak) before discussing with her co-anchor their opinion over who would win and when the showdown would take place.

He of course, could have done a better job than either of the two anchors, he knew everything there was know about his next opponent and obviously he knew when the battle would be(in six months time but they would not announce that for another two weeks). In didn't stop him from watching though, in the end he was a massive fan of battling and he could watch anything from the most entertaining of matches to the most boring of analysis, that's what made him so great. Plus it was always nice to hear that people thought you were going to win.

There was a knock on the door. He pushed himself of his couch and walked over to his front door. It was about bloody well time, Lyra always had a habit if being late. Sometimes he wondered why on earth he allowed her to hang out with him. All she was, was something to hold him back, drag him down and prevent him from transcending his sport to a status befitting of him. Instead he found himself having to get her out of trouble or having to teach her how to do the simplest of things.

"Hey Eth… You could have least put a towel on!" She immediately covered her face behind a set of his signature clothes that were rapped in a protective clear foil. He simply smirked, she probably loved what she saw.

"You got my food as well?" He asked taking his clothes from her. She thrust out a brown bag that she held in her other hand, turning away from him in an effort to not look at him.

"And my tea? Not too hot this time?"

"I cooled it down, just the way you like it." She replied. He shrugged, he doubted that the girl had got it right, she never got anything right at all.

"All right." He turned to go and change back in his living room but he noticed that she did not follow.

"You coming in or what?"

"I'd rather wait outside. Till you change that is."

"Suit yourself then." He said, shaking his head. The girl was truly ridiculous.

"All right I'm done you can come in now." He said shortly after getting changed.

"What happened here? It looks like a bomb just went of!"

"Well you know how raves go. It ain't fun unless something gets smashed."

"But this is going to take you ages to clear up."

"Yeah about that. I'm sure you know I have a huge match coming up. And I really need to train for it. So…" He smiled ruefully at her. She blushed and looked down at the floor.

"Ethan… I can't I'm-"

"Oh c'mon babe. If I don't train I won't win. Do you want me to lose? Oh my god you actually want me to lose don't you."

"No, No I don't want you to lose its just…"

"What? What could be more important?"

"I'm well I'm supposed to be meeting someone later." She said nervously. He snorted in response.

"Don't lie Lyra."

"I'm not." She said in almost a whisper.

"Seriously Lyra? I thought I was your only friend."

"I made a new friend."

He snorted again, a silence now falling in-between them. He still didn't believe that she had made a friend, she was incapable of doing so, but it didn't matter, in the end she would help him out, it was just a matter of time really.

"So you're going to ditch me, your oldest and closet friend just to meet up with this new random person. Jee Lyra, some friend you are."

He threw her his best, mock disgusted look, her mouth opened slightly and she clasped her hands together. Internally he whooped, he had triumphed once more, she would give in any moment now.

"Ok…Ok" she said faintly. "I'll help you. Just let me call him so that I can say that I'll be late."

"Cheers babe. You're the best."

A brilliant smile replaced his frown and he raced out his flat and building, not once looking back at the forlorn form of the girl. He took a sip from his tea and grimaced in disgust, the girl had gotten temperature wrong again. Seriously could she do anything right?

Only once he was in the air on the back of his Togekiss did he pay any attention to what she had said. Had she said him? Her friend was male? There was no way that was possible. Shaking his head, he dismissed the thought, she must have been lying this whole time in an effort to make his jealous. As if he could be jealous of her? His thoughts soon moved on away from Lyra as he neared his favourite training ground.

Mt Silver.

He landed on the outskirts of Silver Town, in front of a large building at the entrance to the valley that led into Mt Silver right on the edge of the no-fly zone. Calling back Togekiss to her ball he walked inside. There were literally three people inside, two guards and himself. It was to be expected of course, only those who had proved themselves were allowed passage to Mt Silver and even among those who were deemed worthy, there were only a handful of people who even considered going there. Among the rest of the population the mountain was considered a death trap.

"Ah Mr Etahn. Back again to train already sir?" One of the guards looked up from his newspaper.

"Yep. Got a big fight coming up after all."

"You show that Hoenn pip-squeak what Johto is all about sir. Beat him into the dust."

"Don't worry, he's way overrated as a trainer. He's never had to battle anyone that was even half decent. It should only really last a couple minutes and that's if I don't pay attention."

The two guards cheered him as he made his way to the other end of the room and through the tunnel. The guards on this side of the entrance didn't check his paper work and let him pass through unhindered, being a Johto native did have its perks but it did have its downsides. He knew from experience that if he had used the entrance on the Kanto side he would be stuck for hell of a long time. No doubt those bastards felt bitter over the defeat of their beloved great gym leader.

A sea of green greeted him as he made his way out. A heard of Ponyta and Rapidash were galloping over a slope in the distance. A couple dozen Doduo and Dodrio were taking shelter and eating grubs in the trees over on his left. Directly in front of his was the large lake, that called itself home to many a Pokémon, streams left the lake it in search of the ocean though one of them had to fuel to lake and must travel down from an undiscovered source. On his far right he could see the majestic rocky platform that was Indigo Plateau, living up to its name as the light bounced onto the rare minerals that made up the platform.

His attention was captured by a loud roar as a Gyarados emerged from the depths of the lake. He smiled and readied his own red Gyarados' ball, it seemed that training had begun.

Many hours later, he found himself at the edge of the lake with his now exhausted team. Gyarados was relaxing in the lake staying close to them at the water's edge. Togekiss was preening her feathers, trying to get all the muck, dirt and sweat out next to him. Donphan, Ampharos and Scizor were sleeping nearby on a plain. He looked kindly at them, all of his Pokémon were special, he loved them more than anything else in this world and would give it all away just to be with them. However, on his lap rested the head of closest companion. Typhlosion had been there from the beginning, he had stuck with Ethan through the good times and the bad, pulling through for him and always delivering the win. Well almost always.

They had chosen to stick pretty near to the lake to train. It was a prime place to encounter both wild Pokémon and the occasional wandering trainers, who by nature and by skill respectively would provide him with adequate opposition. In addition the open plains provided them a great space to hold their own training sessions while giving them access to an easy supply to water should they get thirsty. He loved training here.

Of the two places that were off limits to the majority of the population he much preferred this place to that dungeon near Celadon. He was man enough to admit being scared a few times on his journeys, the dungeon was one of them. Dark, damp and humid, the Pokémon there were as strong if not stronger than the ones found here. It was even more restricted than Mt Silver, only champions and Elite Four members were allowed to enter.

But what had scared him the most was the feeling of constantly being watched, something in the dark looking over his shoulder. He had ran out of the dungeon when he thought he heard a voice whisper to him, "You are not him. You are not worthy." Of course he realised that it was just his mind playing tricks on him but he never again ventured into the dungeon.

It was a different prospect all together here. Sure the Pokémon were strong and it was possible to get lost in the forest. But you had a blue sky above you and fresh air filling you with energy. The only true dangerous thing about this place was the mountain itself. There was no beating around the bush, the mountain was a killer. Impossible to climb in winter and close to it at all other times.

His first attempt at scaling the colossus ended prematurely, his Pokémon's welfare meant more to him than conquering something that hardly anyone cared about. He got progressively higher with his next few attempts but once he reached the three quarter mark, he saw what was known as the eternal storm. Less than twenty people had reached this level, and nobody had climbed further than this in the last decade.

After his first glimpse at the storm, he started his decent. People said he was bravest and most daring trainer in the world, charging into situations head first. At that point in time though he knew it was time to back down. Neither he nor his Pokémon were ready for something truly powerful as the eternal storm.

It rankled him like nothing else. He was the gold standard, nothing could defeat him, he needed to conquer it. What Professor Oak had said to him when he was given the pass itched in the back of his mind.

"The mountain will provide you with your sternest test and just when you think you have won it will throw you a surprise. Defeat it and then there can be no argument over what people say about you."

He did not take kindly to those words when he first heard them, was the professor suggesting that he was not the greatest trainer to ever grace this earth? Had he not proven the contrary when he stomped out the attempted reformation of Team Rocket, when he decimated Lance to become champion himself, or when he defeated the best trainer in the world Blue Oak?

Once he saw the storm, he had to rethink the professor's words. Up there, there were only two things to defeat, nature and yourself. Nature though wasn't the obstacle, you were. You and you alone could get yourself to the top of that mountain. You had face up to your limitations, first learning how to deal with them before shattering them down completely. You had to become the best version of yourself.

In his case, become perfect.

And so with the old man's wise words he climbed the mountain once more. Navigating his way through the sandstorms and rock slides, battling and defeating the titanic bodies of numerous Steelix and Tyranitar, treading his way carefully around icy paths while the hurricane strong winds tried to blow him off the edge.

The higher he got the more it seemed that the mountain tried to stop him. The Pokémon got more aggressive, he had many sleepless nights as Sneasel packs would raid his camp. The winds blew stronger, he had to hold onto as tightly as he could to any support he could find or else who would be blown to his death. The path grew ever more dangerous, the threat of avalanches and rock slides kept him on his toes which were getting ever bloodier from sharp rocks and serrated icicles. And finally there was the cold, if Typholosion had not been there with him then he would have undoubtedly frozen to death.

But he made it. Finally he had got to the peak. He had beaten everything laid out in front of him. He truly was perfect.

You can imagine his surprise when he saw a man sitting down, facing away from him, wearing nothing more than blue jeans, and a tattered cap jacket. The man's legs dangled over the peak and a Pikachu sat on his shoulder, letting the snow collect on him, seemingly without a care in the world. It took a moment for the man to realise he was there and turn around, revealing raven black hair and a small surprised smile on his face, his eyes obscured by the shadow caused by his cap but he could see a red gleam shining out.

He stood up and the Pikachu jumped of his shoulder. It took a moment for Ethan to realise what was going on. He was being challenged to a battle by a complete stranger, atop a mountain of all places. But it was no matter, he was the greatest trainer ever, a master, he could not be defeated.

* * *

He had never tried to reach the peak again. It haunted even more so than his experience in the dungeon. For weeks and months he tried forgetting it ever happened. Yet it was there in his Pokédex, a blemish to his perfect record, a loss. He shook his head and glared at the mountain from his resting point by the lake, he always did this then when they came here to train. Debate with himself whether to go back up.

On one hand it was something to beat and conquer but on the other hand what if he lost again. He had thanked every god he could think of that word of his defeat had not got out. What would people think of him? Would he lose that rightful place where he put him?

Surely should he lose again, people would find out. He couldn't risk another defeat to that thing on top of the mountain. It wasn't trainer or even a person that was up there. How could it be? It gave no commands to that Pikachu and was oblivious to the blizzard around them. No, it wasn't human, it was a demon.

Shaking himself from his depression he stood and recalled all but Togekiss. It was getting late and they ought to head back. Walking back out, he said goodbye to the guards who once again cheered him for his big match, he got on Togekiss and flew back to his flat.

Calling back Togekiss he went inside. From one look around his flat he could tell things were different. Lyra had not put things in their correct places. He groaned, that girl was more trouble than it was worth, he would have to fix everything later, and that would take up his valuable time. Sighing he plonked himself down on his sofa and turned on the TV.

"And in other news today, our very own Jasmine has won the first ever Stamina Course Pokéatlon to be held in Sinnoh. Whitney also competed at the inaugural event placing third in her course. Here is our reporter Chris Hollins with the roundup of the event."

He shot up from his couch, mouth agape, his eyes glued to the television. There it was among the other victors. The body and face structure matched, the raven hair was identical and those red eyes stared into his soul.

There was his demon.

* * *

**AN: First of, apologies for taking over a week to get this out. Work was hectic last week, I had to cover for a couple of guys who took holiday and stepping up from re-writing internal system code to dealing with clients took quite a lot out of me. I literally only wrote three sentences total last week.**

**So yeah second chapter to be from someone else's pov. This was quite hard to write, trying to write a douchebag is surprisingly hard. And I guess this is where I apologize to Ethan fans for writing him this way. I like the guy I just wanted to try and write a character this way for a change and Etahn drew the short straw.**

**As always if you want to see Red in a certain situation then let me know (no promises but I definitely consider anything you guys throw at me), I have seven more ideas that I have yet to start work on.**

**Anyways, hope you guys liked it and thanks for reading.**

**Cheers,**

**92fd**


	6. The Old Bill Strikes Back

He wrapped his cloak tightly around him, the fabric sheltering him from the elements. On his shoulder Pikachu shook itself, ridding the snow that had begun to settle on his fur. It had been a long time since the two had been in cold weather let alone seen snow fall. In truth the weather in this city reminded them of home.

Snowflakes falling on them with a slight breeze blowing into their faces but with a stillness and a purity in the air. It was almost as if they were back home at the peak of their mountain. Nothing to bother them but nature, lightly tapping them, letting them know that it was there, eternal and everlasting.

A shrill cry brought them out of their lull and a snowball flew past them. Despite the weather this place was definitely not home. The snowball fight grew in ferocity, the children's screams of pleasure bursting the bubble that he had been dreaming in for last few minutes. Quickly getting out of their way the duo walked towards the large building on the outskirts of town towards the north.

He had been interested in the building as soon as he had laid his eyes upon it. He had seen many a temple before but those had all been small or in ruin. This on the other hand was neither small nor in ruin. It was large and magnificent. The marble glistened as the light reflected of it. None of the steps or the large expansive columns had a single crack in them while the pointed triangular like roof still stood firm against the mass of snow that had gathered atop if it. Yet despite its image, it gave of an aura of great age. You could somehow tell that this temple was truly ancient, coming from an age far in the distant past.

Carefully he stepped on to the wide steps, despite looking in fantastic condition, he still felt that the temple was somewhat fragile. After taking the few steps to the raised platform, he walked through huge columns guarding the entrance. He was shocked to see absolutely nothing once he had got past the columns. All it was, was a wide open hall that continued on all the way up to rocky cliff that overlooked the city. The only things in here were the roof above him and columns, behind and to his sides, holding the roof up.

He walked towards the rock wall, his footsteps the only sound that could be heard as they tapped against the marble. As he got closer to the far end he could see a little opening in the floor and what seemed like a stone ladder that went down, over in the far right corner of the room. Feeling excitement gather up inside of him, he quickened his pace, reaching the opening in little time and immediately climbed down the ladder not stopping for a moment.

Skipping the last few rungs, he jumped off, he couldn't wait to see what had been hidden down here. He scrunched his nose and looked around in disappointment at what lay in front of him. Another empty room. At least this one was decorated with randomly placed rocks and a few icy stalactites and stalagmite that grew down from the ceiling and up from the ground respectively. Searching around, hoping to find some hidden secret he cursed to himself as he slipped on the icy ground.

Suddenly he heard a creaking noise. He looked up to see one of the stalactites cracking. Picking up Pikachu, he leapt as far as he could away from the deadly descending block of ice. On his landing though, he shattered a clump of ice that had hidden yet another opening. Pulling Pikachu tight into his chest, he attempted to shield the little mouse as they dropped down through the hole. Buffeting against the walls, pain coursed through his body.

With a loud and painful thud he finally hit solid ground. His whole body tingled, no doubt he had received numerous cuts and bruises and he could taste the blood in his mouth. But it was his left shoulder, which he had landed on, that had him in agony. Sitting up he knew that he had dislocated it. Placing Pikachu down with his remaining good arm, he went about popping it back in.

Gritting his teeth he stood up and drew his left elbow and forearm into his chest. Using his good arm he pulled his left shoulder and arm inwards, making an "L" shape as he bent his elbow to ninety degrees. With Pikachu looking on with a grimace, he started to slowly and steadily rotate his bad arm and shoulder outwards, using his right to make sure that his upper left arm remained as stationary as possible. Making a fist with his injured arm and grasping tightly onto his wrist with the other, he began to push slowly, trying to coax it back into his shoulder. But his shoulder refused him. His face contorting in pain he repeated his efforts before finally on his fourth attempt, relief flew through him. Gently rotating it in the opposite direction he tested it out before sighing in comfort, sitting back down again.

Taking stock of his surroundings, he realised that he had got of lightly with just a dislocated shoulder. Just one metre to his right was an almighty limestone stalagmite about seven inches thick at the base and four at the tip, he shuddered at the thought of being impaled on that monster. He sighed as he turned his attention back onto himself, he wasn't too concerned over the cuts and bruises that he had just acquired, he had received far too many to count in his lifetime already. No, he was more worried over the state of his clothes. Both his cloak and jeans had numerous rips and were now blood stains scattered all over them. He groaned to himself, he had just gotten this fantastic cloak and already he needed to repair it.

Looking around him he realised that there were a trio of sculptures on this level, each made of out different material. He couldn't tell exactly what they were, but if he had to place a guess then he would have gone for some kind of guardians of sort, but what they were protecting he did not know. There was also another opening with yet another stone ladder down on this floor as well. He debated whether or not to explore further. He ought to go get his shoulder checked out but his curiosity got the better of him.

As he took a step towards his new destination, he slipped and fell straight on his arse, failing his arms in a last ditch effort to keep his balance. Beside him Pikachu snickered, the little mouse found his fall rather amusing. Cuffing his friend behind the ear, he dusted himself down and picked himself up, Pikachu running up his body taking up its signature place on him. Prodding his foot in front of him, in order to not slip again, he found the cause for his fall. Black Ice, so named for its ability to go unseen. In fact it seemed that the whole floor was covered in it. He nearly slipped again multiple times as he warily crossed it. Finally though, he got to the ladder. Descending it he prayed that they he would finally find something in this temple and not just another empty floor.

He was rewarded for his persistence. Once he reached the bottom he was greeted by an awe inspiring sight. In the centre of this room stood a creature encased in what seemed like ice, rock and a steel like substance. It was unlike anything he had ever seen before and that was coming from a person who had seen a multitude of crazy happenings, weird people and even legendary creatures. Studying it further he noticed that it somewhat resembled the three sculptures that he had spotted on the floor above.

It shared a similar body structure to the three though on a much larger scale, easily passing the ten foot mark possibly even fifteen he wasn't too sure. And like the sculpture is shared a dot like pattern on its front side, it didn't appear to have a face, again like the three guardians. He deduced that this had to be a Pokémon though what Pokémon it was and whether it was actually alive or not, he was not sure about. Pulling out his camera from his backpack he decided to take a few snaps of the giant. He could identify what this thing was later by looking up his pictures and if he should one day ever return to Pallet Town he could show then to the Professor.

He smiled slightly as he remembered the Professor. The person who had introduced him to Pikachu had been incredibly intelligent and was easily the smartest person he knew but he couldn't help but wonder if the professor could identify this Pokémon. Perhaps he could, he wasn't called the authority when to came Pokémon knowledge for nothing. But still there had been many mysteries left in this world that had yet to be unearthed, the Professor had even told him so when he had first left for his journey.

Pikachu leapt of his shoulder and ran over to large clump of ice near the back of the chamber. He followed his best friend, squatting down to his level to see what Pikachu had found. A set of chisels and hammers lay discarded next to ice boulder, seemingly carelessly left abandoned. Looking back at the encased giant, then to the mass of ice and finally down to the chisel set he quickly put two and two together. Someone had obviously tried to create an ice sculpture of the being that rested in this chamber but from the dust and dirt that covered the set, they had forgotten or given up this project an age ago.

He smirked at Pikachu as an idea cropped up in his head. Pikachu frowned at him before his little eyes widened in horror, furiously shaking its little head as his trainer picked up the set, wiping away the dust before getting to work on the chuck of ice. Sighing Pikachu resigned himself to watching his friend go of on yet another hair brained idea.

The mouse loved his trainer dearly but this fixation that he was currently on had the little mouse worried. It was all well and good that his trainer was getting out there and back into the world but they should be enjoying themselves and appreciating the things that they had missed on their rapid ascent to the top. Instead his trainer was obsessed with finding something to replace what they had done before. True they had accomplished everything they wanted to in that field but they didn't have to find something to replace it. They could easily go about themselves enjoying the finer things in life. Plus they would never be done with battling, it was who they were, too ingrained in them to ever truly let go. Eventually, the little mouse knew that they would one day find themselves back where they belonged. Back to training, for a new battle or challenge that awaited them. It was just a matter of when, not if.

Hammering away on the ice, he smiled to himself. Already who could feel that this was going much better than his attempt at drawing. He would stop occasionally to check on the giant to make sure that he got its curves and proportions correct. It was hard work that was made more difficult by the ice melting slightly when he accidentally touched it with his warm hands, but eventually he was able to shape the clump into a figure that vaguely resembled the beast in the chamber. He was rather pleased with what he had done so far and he asked for Pikachu's opinion. His best friend looked it over, nodding a few times and twitching his ears in slight surprise, giving him a look that clearly said not too bad at all. He grinned broadly, give him another half of a day and he would be able to present a masterpiece.

"What do you think you're doing?"

A woman flanked by two men in uniforms descended from the ladder. He dropped the chisel and hammer surprised by their sudden entrance, cursing to himself as they hit his foot, stubbing his toe.

"This is hollowed ground. Only authorised personal are supposed to be here. And what have you done to our sculpture? You have defiled it!" She screamed at him.

He shot Pikachu a look. They had defiled it? It was just a lump of ice, if anything he had made it better. Nevertheless he put his hands up in front of him, waving at her that he had done no such thing and didn't want any trouble, for all the good that did him.

"Take him!" she ordered to the two men who quickly advanced at him.

Pikachu sparked his cheeks in anticipation, ready to respond immediately. He stopped his friend though, the last thing they needed was to get into any more trouble than they had already done. This time they would calmly explain what had happened, they would explain that they didn't know that this was holy ground and this time they would not have to make a run for it. Pikachu frowned but complied and scurried up onto his shoulder. The two men in uniform took one his arms respectively and frog marched him out of the chamber, up the ladders and out of the temple.

He expected to be taken somewhere to be questioned but instead they marched him straight to police who promptly threw him into a cell. They tried to take Pikachu and the rest of his Pokéballs when they threw him in but the little mouse hissed, snarled and sparked his cheeks at them causing them to think better of it. The sight of grown men backing away from a tiny Pokémon amused him greatly but it didn't change the fact that they had somehow landed themselves in jail. He could have easily called for one of his heavies and broken clean out but that would almost imply that he had done something wrong which he clearly hadn't.

So instead he stayed, sitting cross legged in his cell gently petting Pikachu, patiently awaiting what would become of him. A couple of hours later a man in a suit and a woman wearing a white shirt, brown shorts and a blue jumper wrapped around her wait approached his cell. Following the two of them were numerous police officers, from the way they were standing you would have thought they were dealing with a notorious criminal, not a young man who had just got himself into a bad situation. One of the officers unlocked his cell, allowing the man to enter while the woman stayed outside.

"All right young man, my name is Captain McCulskey and you're going to answer some questions for me. You got that." The captain snarled at him.

"You're here for a serious offence! So if you don't want anything bad to happen to your Pokémon then you will answer me truthfully. Let's start with an easy question. Who the hell are you?"

They had taken his backpack when he had arrived and with it, his clipboard and pen. He tried using sign language to explain that he couldn't exactly talk but the captain took it as something else.

"So you're playing that game kid? Well in that case you won't be needing a lawyer. Excellent."

The captain advanced on him but he stopped in his tracks when Pikachu jumped in front of him, sparking his cheeks angrily. Unlike the other members of the police force though, the captain was not frightened of the mouse. Instead McCulskey pulled out a gun and pointed in straight at his head.

"Tell your rat to back off, or I'll stick some lead straight into your brain."

Open mouthed he stared at McCulskey, how on earth had this escalated so quickly? Pikachu glared at the police captain but conceded his position after seeing the mortal peril that his trainer was in. Keeping the gun squarely pointed at his head, the captain walked straight up to him, a sinister smile of delight on his face.

"Get up." The captain said softly.

Not wanting to anger the man he stood straight up, hands clasped behind his back and chest slightly out. He thought that the captain would be the type of man that hated slackers and sloppiness and so he thought that by making his posture as professional as possible that he would at least not piss off the captain. Unfortunately it didn't seem to work as a fist slammed into his face. He stumbled backwards, his hands going straight up to his face and nose which had been broken and was now bleeding profusely. Pikachu cried out but was prevented from anything by the captain still pointing the gun to his head.

"I'll ask you again kid. Who the hell are you?"

Again he tried signing to get his point across, even going so far as to pointing to his throat and then making an action of breaking a bar to get his point across. This though only seemed to get the captain going. The grin on his face growing by the second.

"Wrong answer kid."

His legs were taken from him and he landed painfully on his back. Not a moment later his ribs cried out in pain as the McCulskey's shin clattered into him.

"You think this is a game? I'm the master of games kid. You will answer me. You will talk. You will pay for putting your vile hands on our sacred temple. Talk or die punk!"

McCulskey punctuated each of his sentences with a kick or stomp. His body shouted out in pain, his left shoulder in particular begged for release but the captain continued his assault, mercilessly pulverising his body.

"Speak god dam it! Cry for mercy! SAY SOMETHING YOU FREAK!"

"Err captain. I don't think he can actually talk." With a final vicious kick to the ribs the captain finally ceased his attack.

"You have a lot to learn Candice. These criminals use many tricks to get away with their crimes. I'll be seeing you again soon kid. Perhaps you'll be more talkative next time."

McCulskey departed with a final kick to his face knocking him back against the hard wall of the cell. Pikachu ran to him, nuzzling into his chest in an effort to make him fell better. His body refused his commands to move, too sore and beaten up to comply with his wishes, and he could barely even hear the slam of his cell door as McCulskey left him in his painful state. He could feel himself slipping into unconscious and he did nothing to stop himself from falling to the darkness.

* * *

He awoke to see Pikachu licking his face tenderly. He patted his friend's head appreciatively before turning his attention to his badly beaten body. It groaned and ached as he moved it, pleading with him to stop and lie still. Bringing a hand up to his face he was surprised to find that his nose had been set back in its proper place. In fact as he inspected the rest of his body, he found that a lot if his injuries had been tended to and his blood had been cleaned up. Had someone helped him while he had been out?

His question was answered as the woman from before came into view as she approached his cell bars. Seeing that he was awake she gave him a nervous smile before slipping what looked like a cup in between the bars of his cell.

"I thought you might like some water?"

Ignoring the throbbing in his legs, he gingerly walked over to her. He took the cup from her and looked at the liquid inside. He sniffed it a couple of times before eyeing her suspiciously.

"It's water Candice promises."

He looked at her strangely, that was an odd way to structure a sentence. Shrugging it off, he apprehensively brought the cup to his lips, taking a tiny sip of the liquid. He rinsed it in his mouth a couple of times, tasting it and making sure that it was indeed what she said it was. He gulped down a third of the remaining water, parching a thirst he didn't know he had, giving the rest to Pikachu.

"So you really can't talk?"

She asked him after he had finished. He shook his head tentatively, were they playing the good cop bad cop routine? She winced at the eyeballing that he gave her, taking a few steps back away from the bars before turning and walked away from him, leaving him to his solitude along with Pikachu. He didn't expect her to come back so soon let alone with his backpack. She opened the cell door and entered, throwing him his back pack.

"You know I saw you on T.V. at the Pokéathlon. You beat Maylene, a good friend of Candice. She told Candice about it not that long ago, she said that you had to be a really strong trainer, she said your Pokémon were unlike anything she had seen before."

What was this girl playing at? He looked around trying to spot McCulskey or any rozzers for that matter hiding out back, ready to pounce on him the moment he showed any weakness. But he couldn't spot any. Was this woman really just a good person? Sizing her up, he knew that even in the state that his body was in, he could easily overpower her, get the key and make a break for freedom.

"So now that you've got something to communicate with, tell Candice a bit about yourself."

She spoke with a warmth and a confidence that surprised him. He eyed her again, she knew that he could overpower her and escape but she was confident that he would stay and talk to her. He smiled, he could respect confidence and so pulling out his clipboard and pen he decided to tell her about his adventures since leaving his mountain. The worst that could happen would be being beaten up again by that psychopath.

"So you're wanted in Hoenn as well?"

She was on the verge of crying as he finished recounting his previous brush with the five-oh. It turned out she was a very good listener, not asking too many questions and laughing at all the right places. She brushed away a tear that had formed on her cheek, sighing deeply. Her face turned serious and she gave him a small frown.

"Well Candice has to ask you now. What were you doing on our temple? It's off limits to anyone who is not permitted to be there."

He explained to her what had happened, how he had come across the temple not knowing that it was sacred and the lack of people or guards there to tell him. Next he went on to explain his wandering around in the chambers, and how he had found the encased giant. He explained that he had been trying to find his calling and that seeing the lump of ice and the chisel set he thought that is was a sign for what he was supposed to do. She nodded her head and got up, walking out of the cell, she locked the door behind her but lingered at the bars, motioning for him to come closer.

"Our town won't get any power between twelve-thirty and one because of the snow. There is no back up power for the cameras here. " She whispered to him, slipping a key into his pocket through the bars. She winked at him before making her exit but just before she left, she turned back to face him.

"Candice never got your name." He simply smiled at her, she laughed back.

"Guess we'll have to think of one for you then. Hmm….The Great Escapee, no, The Temple Thief? No maybe something simple then. How about The Man in Red? Well good luck whoever you are." She waved before disappearing from his sight.

* * *

He waited until preciously twelve-thirty, silently getting up and unlocking his cell. Even with her promise that the cameras were out, he stuck to the shadows as he navigated his way out of the jail, he didn't want to take any chances. Fifteen minutes later, with Pikachu on his shoulder, he had made his way to the back exit of the building. Silently praying to any god listening to him that no alarms would go off, he stuck the key into the lock and turned. Relief flood through him and he ran out of jail as fast as his tired and battered legs could carry him.

His plan had been to get the hell out of town as quickly as he could but he stopped when he heard a small commotion near to what seemed like the local tavern. Hiding behind a bin he watched what was going on. There drunkenly walking out of the bar was McCulskey. Rage seeped through him, thoughts of leaving town evaporated. He tailed the captain down into an alley, he had to teach this man a lesson.

But he couldn't just jump him from behind, that would make him no better than McCulskey. It had to be a fair fight. He noticed the gun holstered onto the captain's belt, he looked at Pikachu, it was the perfect opportunity to get the man's attention.

"What the hell?" McCulskey yelled out as he felt his belt first loosen and then disappear.

"How the hell did you get out?" McCulskey yelled once he turned around and saw him. He pointed at McCulskey and then to himself before raising his fists to a ready position.

"Like men then."

McCulskey mirrored his actions and staggered towards him. The captain was drunk and his body had been clobbered. A fair fight it would be. McCulskey threw the first punch, a wild right hook that he was able to duck under. He brought his knee up towards McCulskey's ribcage but the captain was well trained, lowering his left forearm to block the blow before delivering a right elbow to his jaw sending him to the floor.

The captain went for a stomp but he managed to roll out of the way and kick the back of McCulskey's left leg, just behind the knee joint, earning him enough time to get back onto his feet. McCulskey quickly came at him, throwing another huge right hook. This time he leaned to his right, using his left arm to shield his face while using his hip to snap quick right jab into the captain's face, returning the favour from before and breaking the man's nose. McCulskey staggered back but in his drunken state, the pain was greatly diluted. In fact in only seemed to enrage the man and he charged at him like a bull catching him off guard.

He brought his arms up to protect his head as he lay on the ground while the captain threw down his hammer like blows. Turning his weight to match the blows, he lessened the impact of them bringing his knees and legs up to his body, the captain oblivious to his plan, more concerned about finishing him off. McCulskey missed a left to his face and he saw his chance. Taking hold of the captain's left arm, he quickly wrapped his left leg behind the captain's head, locking it in place with his right leg and arm.

The captain panicked realising the predicament that he was in, making it easier for him to tighten the choke hold. McCulskey was fading, he could feel the captain's breaths get shallower by the second, and soon it would all be over. But with a last minute bout of great strength the captain lifted him off from the ground and power bombed him back down to the ground causing him to release the chokehold.

Both of them were slow to get up, exhaustion on the verge of taking over their bodies, yet get up they did, neither of them wanting to loose to the other. The captain breathed hard, never in all his life had a person ever dared challenge him, let alone stand toe to toe with him. But here was a boy that was matching him blow for blow even after the viscous beating he had given him just hours ago. He stared into the red eyes of the boy and for the first time in a long time, the captain felt fear. The boy, no man in front of glared at him with an iron will of a person that refused to believe that they were ever bested. A person that lived by the code that defeat was never an option. The man would keep coming at him, he needed to end this fight quickly.

McCulskey threw another wild right at him, but this time he was ready and he caught it. Quickly he jumped and delivered a spinning heel kick to the captain's face, all the while holding onto McCulskey's arm. The two went sailing down to the ground, the captain landed flat on his back while he landed with his legs over the captain's chest, holding McCulskey's arm between his legs, pulling and hyper-rotating the captain's elbow joint. McCulskey cried out in anguish and desperately tired to get out of the armbar, but he refused to relinquish the hold, like a great fighter once said, you either tap or die.

It wasn't long before the captain did tap and for a second he considered letting the man go, but he needed to make sure that the man would never again abuse his position of power. With a final great effort he pulled on the captain's arm. McCulskey let out more yells of pain before screaming his lungs out when the snap eventually came. Only then did he let go of the hold. The captain immediately writhed around, yelling, screaming and cursing him to hell.

He slowly got up and stood over the man's whimpering form. McCulskey tired crawling away from him and called out for help. He pulled the man back towards him and brought his fist down, cracking the man straight in the temple, knocking the captain out instantly.

Pikachu appeared beside him and gave him a very impressed look. He shook his right fist to lessen the pain while he sighed. Perhaps he had gone a little too far teaching the captain a lessen. He probably didn't need to break the guy's arm. Pikachu's ears twitched and he immediately focused on his surroundings.

He could hear the faint noise of sirens. Either his tussle with the captain or his escape from prison had been noticed. Lamenting his fortune with the police he ran as fast as he could away from the town. He smiled to himself, at least now they had a proper reason to arrest him.

* * *

**AN: Well that went a bit darker than I anticipated. The original idea was to have Red try his hand at ice sculpting before once again getting into trouble with his new nemesis, the po-po, resulting in a comically escape. And well I guess that did't happen. I would like to put it down to a bad week at work but that would be a lie, I only had one shit day.**

**On a more lighter note, tomorrow is a special day for me. One year since becoming a member on fanfiction and posting my very first story, Stepping out from a Shadow. If you haven't checked it out, What the hell? It's like my best piece of work. Go check it out now! Jokes, you don't have to, it would be cool if you did though. A few of the early chapters in it are a bit cringe worthy if i'm being ****honest but I'm still proud and attached to that fic.**

**Anyways as always if you have a scene you want to see Red in, leave it in a review.**

**Thanks for reading,**

**92fd**


	7. The Bride

His hands shook. Never had he been this nervous or excited. Desperately he tried to focus on the task at hand but it was to no avail. His thoughts plagued him. It wasn't the fact that he was scared to do it, in fact every fibre of his being wanted to do it like nothing he had ever done before. What bothered him though was the thought that he was not up for the challenge. He had never done anything like this, and there was no guarantee that he'd be any good at it. What if he messed it up? What if he ruined it? He didn't want to cause any harm, especially not to her.

He looked back up and into the eyes of face before him. Those red eyes stared back. The eyes of a demon some had said, ruthless and devoid of emotion as he put a stop to all those who dared come across his path. The conqueror they said, a look alone from those eyes was enough to make all challengers quake in terror. Eyes of the warrior they claimed, never once did they show a hint of retreat, always on the attack, always on the front foot, always owning the initiative. Mythic, they were legendary, if you were lucky enough to see him, you were truly blessed if you got to see those eyes. And those few who had the chance to stare right into those red eyes told you of the power. They were unworldly and detached they said. They bore into your very soul, every single one of your thoughts, devoured by them.

Yet he saw none of what they saw. Instead he saw the eyes of a man who very much did feel. At this very moment they were fearful and nervous but at the same time they were excited and energetic. He brought his hands up to the bowtie that hung loosely around his neck, cursing it as he tried to do it up. It was the first time that he had to tie one on and in all honesty he never planned on wearing one again in his lifetime. But today he had to wear it, he wanted to wear it. He had to look perfect. For her.

After fumbling around for nigh on ten minutes, he threw the bowtie away in disgust. Sure he could survive atop a mountain, defeat any crime mob put in front of him, go on adventures and leave all his loved one behind. But a simple bowtie? He groaned and plonked himself on a chair and ran his hands through his thick raven black hair. He looked back into the mirror and smiled slightly, if only they could see him now. Their hero, their villain, the measure of clam and confidence, sitting alone in this room, a complete and utter nervous wreck.

He thought he had got the hard part out of the way. Just knocking her grandfather's door had him cacking his pants. He could be barely move when her grandfather answered the door let alone ask him the all important question. He felt for sure that he had royally screwed that up, his hands shook so much as he signed his question. But not only had her grandfather given his blessing, he had been overjoyed and gave him a bear hug that had almost cracked his ribs. Almost everything had gone perfectly since that day, although getting Pikachu and her sister to help him with his proposal had probably not been one of his best ideas but either way, since then, it had been the happiest time of his life.

That was until last night.

He had asked Blue to not go overboard with the bachelor party but of course he should known better. Even by both his and Blue's standards that night had been crazy. But a comment from a guest who hadn't exactly been invited had put him into this state.

"Exactly what does she see in you? You're not good looking. You're not that rich. Hell I doubt you know any other way than living rough and on the road. Take away the fame and what are you? I mean she could have anyone she wanted. What do you offer her that she doesn't already have? And if she wanted a trophy, there are way better prizes out there."

He had immediately rebuffed the 'guest', the two of them were in love with each other and that was all that mattered. But as he made his way back home, he couldn't help but wonder exactly what it was he brought to this marriage.

Sure he was famous and he was well off but she was just as wealthy as he was if not more so. You could have made the argument that he was the best trainer in the world but neither of them cared for that, and she was an incredible trainer in her own right and could easily give him a run for his money. Other than that he didn't have what you called marriageable traits. His other more prominent skills, being able to live in harsh conditions, disappearing without a trace and making daring escapes were not exactly going to be useful anymore. He wasn't a looker either. When he had his cap on, shadowing his eyes from view, no one gave him a second glance.

What did she see in him?

Like a lot of what media said of him, he was hermit who shunned fame and money. An anti-social who only appeared at a tournament once every few years or when a great deal of trouble arose that required his presence, disappearing once again when his deeds were done. And even if you had to chance to see him, approaching him was nigh on impossible.

She on the other hand was the flower in the public's eye, with movie star good looks and a bubbly personality to boot. Appearing on many shows and willing to give interviews, she was a dream for the press and public. Women wanted to be her and men wanted to be with her. She could go from training in the rain and mud to turning up on the red carpet and still be the most beautiful thing that you could lay your eyes on. There was simply no other word for it. She was angelic. Whereas he had more in common with a drifter.

"Yo buddy you in here?"

A knock on the door, preceded the entrance of his spiky brown haired friend. Blue looked every inch the superstar in his fetching tailor made suit, custom leather shoes and expensive designer sunglasses that he was probably wearing for another reason than looking like a million bucks. His friend plonked himself down next him, hand clasping his head in an effort to calm the raging hangover that had taken a hold.

"Man last night. Dam!" A small smile appeared on his face, last night had indeed been one hell of a night.

"Do you think she'll mind if I wear these?

He snorted and smirked in response, he doubted she would mind, but he knew that Blue wasn't hiding what lay underneath for his and her sakes. No, Blue was doing it to protect his own interests, which he found greatly amusing. Blue hardly every cared what other people thought about his looks or his personality. Yet here his friend was covering himself up to try and not disappoint one particular person. A fact he made quite clear to Blue, earning him a cuff on the back his head.

"Chatty gossip." Blue muttered. "What about you? Why aren't you ready yet? Where's your bowtie?"

Blue questioned before he pointed towards where it had been thrown. Blue looked at it and then back at him, his expression changing from confusion to a cheeky smirk as he realised why said bowtie was lying on the other side of the room.

"Don't tell me the great and powerful Red was defeated by a simple bowtie?" Blue asked on the verge of laughing, as he got up form his chair and made his way to the discarded item of clothing.

"If I'd known that I would have brought one to our battles ages ago." Blue joked, picking the bowtie up and walking back over to him, ignoring the scowls that were shot at him.

"C'mon get up off your fat lazy ass. I'll do it for you." Shooting him another glare, he got up and faced Blue who promptly wrapped the bowtie around his collar and went about the business of tying it on.

"Hey is everything all right?" he raised an eyebrow at Blue.

"You really quiet. Well quieter than usual." He sighed and looked into the mirror as Blue put the finishing touches to the knot.

"_Do you think I'm right for her?"_ He signed.

"What?"

"_Do you-"_

"I know what you said."

"_She deserves the very best. I don't know if I'm that."_

"You're joking right? If you're not the best then for my safety I don't want to battle the best."

"_That's not what I mean."_ He paused, thinking over his words. _"What do I bring to this marriage? What set of skills do I have that are actually useful? What do I offer her?"_

"You have got to be fucking kidding me? You're the luckiest guy in the world you know that right. And you're thinking of throwing it all down the drain. We both knew you were stupid before but this stupid? What are you, a Team Rocket grunt? I've heard of pre-marriage nerves before but this is a bit far ain't it? What's got into you?" He looked down and shuffled his feet, he knew exactly what Blue would tell if he told him what had happened last night.

"Spill." Blue ordered, folding his arms authoritatively. "Don't make me challenge you right here, right now. It would be a shame to loose a battle on you wedding day now wouldn't it."

He snorted again and a smile crept on his face, it was just like Blue to challenge him to a battle at the most inappropriate of times. Looking up he saw that his best man shared his smile.

"Trust me I'll do it."

Blue pulled out a Pokéball that he knew contained Umbreon and started tossing it up and down nonchalantly. He actually debated the idea of actually calling Blue's bluff and having a battle, he could really do with something to get his mind off his current trail of thought. And it wouldn't really piss that many people off, she wouldn't mind one bit and would probably start cheering for them and would get more into it than either of them.

"Oh crap, you're actually thinking about doing it aren't you?" Blue hastily put Umbreon's ball away.

"Hmm what could I potentially do that would force you to tell me what happened?" He gulped as an evil smile formed on Blue's face.

"You know I still have that video of you doing-"

"_I'll talk. I'll talk god dam it. Never bring that up again. Never."_

Not wanting to experience that story ever again, he told Blue what had happened and needless to say he got the response that he was expecting.

"Wow. Since when you have you become a pussy? Who'd have thunk it. The great and powerful Red, acting like a little bitch. Is this what marriage does to you? If that's the case then I definitely don't want to get married."

"_Oh this coming from a guy who's hiding his appearance because he's scared of what a girl might think about it. Who's acting like a bitch now? And stop calling me the great and powerful Red."_

"I apologise oh mighty one. I am not worthy to be in your presence."

"_One more word and I'll beat the crap out of you."_

"Please we both know I'd win in a fist fight. I'm bigger, stronger and faster than you after all."

"_You forgot one more thing. You're stupider as well."_

"Not as stupid as you. I'm not the person thinking of running away from his marriage."

"_I'm not thinking of running away, just questioning whether or not I'm the best option for her."_

"That's practically the same thing. You're being a bitch ass coward."

"_You're a dickhead you know that."_

"Still better than being a coward."

"_Keep talking, someday you'll say something intelligent."_

"Well you're so dumb that you got hit by a parked car."

"_You're proof that evolution can go in reverse."_

"You're proof that man can live without a brain."

"_If I ever had a brain transplant I'd choose yours because I'd want one that hadn't been used yet."_

"Zombies are looking for brains. Don't worry, you're safe."

"_You are living proof of reincarnation. No one can get that stupid in just one lifetime."_

"I can't believe that out of one thousand sperm you were the quickest."

"_If someone wanted to make a stupid person, you'd be the blueprint."_

"You deprive a town of idiots of their idiot."

"_It's your town as well dumbass."_

"Yeah well your mother's so stupid that she got locked in a bathroom and peed her pants."

"_What'd you just say about my momma?"_

"Ok that was a bit far. But hey c'mon we were just playing." Blue said raising his hands up in surrender, backing away from the quickly advancing Red.

"Oh Shit"

Blue bent over and covered his head with his arms in an effort to protect himself as soon as he saw Red's elbow flick out in preparations delivery a powerful right hook. But the blow never came. Blue opened his eyes and lowered his arms to see a smiling Red with a huge grin on his face.

"_You should of seen the look on your face. Priceless."_

"Haha. Good one. Still kinda pussy of you to not go through with it though." Blue teased, lightly his arm.

"_Pussy?"_

"Ye- Uhhh" Blue fell to his knees groaning in agony clutching his groin after Red had brought his knee up into his delicate parts.

"_Who's the pussy now bitch?"_

He smirked in triumph over his friend who was crawling at his feet using his legs to steady himself. But he was prevented from gloating further when Blue brought his forearm up between his legs to return the favour. Red fell to the floor alongside Blue, cradling his manhood., face itched with pain.

"_What - The - Fuck - Man?" _He gasped out.

"You hit me first!"

"_Yeah, lightly. You went all out!"_

"Whatever we're even. Quit being a bitch."

"_You're a bigger bitch."_

"You hit like a bitch."

"_You talk like a bitch."_

"You walk like a bitch."

"_You take it like a bitch."_

"Your mum's a bitch."

Blue groaned as he realised what he had just said, resigning himself to what was about to come. The two friends shuffled all over the floor and room, hurling more insults at each other, re-enacting a scene that happened well over twenty years ago when the two of them were still only children.

"You fight like a bitch, bitch." Blue grunted through heavy breaths as he held Red in a guillotine choke while Red used his free right arm to pummel Blue's side.

"What the hell are you two doing?"

Blue relaxed his chokehold slightly as he turned his head to see who had entered the room. That gave Red the opportunity to break free, shrug Blue of him and send his opponent to the floor, slightly harder than necessary. Blue shot up straight up, his attention back on Red, fully intent to get pay back for the rough push.

"Enough!"

The two dropped their play fight and turned to face their visitor. Red gulped as he saw his bride-to-be's maid of honour glaring at the two of them. Hand closed into the tightest fists he had ever seen. Her normally cheerful and smiley face replaced by raging monster with blazing orange fire in her eyes.

"Exactly what do you think you're doing?" She demanded through gritted teeth.

"Ah you know, we just had to let out some energy. My man's all exited here. Got to make sure he's in perfect condition for the big moment." Blue remarked back, smirking at him. He simply closed his eyes and sighed to himself, he knew that he was going to be the one that got it.

"You know us men-"

"Shut up Blue!" She said menacingly, before striding directly towards him.

"Shutting up." Blue replied before slipping of to the side not wanting to face any part of her fury.

"He I expect it from. You on the other hand." She poked him in the chest viscously. "You're marrying my best friend. And until now I thought you were the perfect fit for her, nobody makes her happy like you do. Yet here I find you fighting with your best man and ruining your suits!"

"In our defence I doubt that – Shutting up now." Blue was silenced by a look from the woman that would have sent shivers up a devil's spine.

"She asked me to help her organise this wedding and with god as my witness I will make this the perfect wedding for her. Now the two of you are going to wait here and do nothing at all until I bring you a new pair of suits. Then you are going to march yourselves to the hall where you will wait until she comes down the isle. Then you!" She poked him so hard this time that he felt for sure that he would bruise tomorrow. "You will marry my friend and you will live happily ever after. You got that." She ordered, her voice dropping with venom. He nodded furiously in confirmation.

"As for you." He let out a breath that he didn't know he was holding as she turned her wrath to Blue."

"Take those god dam sunglasses of. Do you know how ridiculous you look? Are you planning on ruining the photos?"

"I don't think that's a good idea." Blue quipped back. "I think Red ought to explain."

He cursed his friend as she swilled on the spot to face him. Her look froze him in place, he couldn't explain even if wanted to. Snarling she turned back to Blue. Was it him or was it boiling in the room now?

"Take those off."

She said so quietly yet so sharply that it could cut through metal. Anymore of this and he would literally shit his pants. Blue simply sighed and shrugged his shoulders. Did his friend not realise that he was not poking the beast with a stick? He was hitting the beast with huge hammer, right over its head.

"Take them off, now." Her voice even quieter than before.

"As you wish I guess."

With a slight grin on his face Blue took off his now slightly damaged sunglasses. He watched as her eyes grew to the size of saucers before contracting down to slits. Veins bulged out from her face in places that he didn't even know had veins. Her neck muscles twitched and he could tell that it was taking everything in her power to not launch herself on Blue.

"Put them back on." She seethed at him.

"Yes Milady." Blue complied with her order and quickly put his glasses back on.

"Sit. Do nothing. Wait until it begins."

She could barely make a coherent sentence as she stomped out of the room. The two sat in silence, taking of their ruined suits and waiting for the new ones to arrive. Blue began tapping his left foot impatiently before a sudden look came over him and he smirked at Red.

"I was right." He said triumphantly.

"_What?"_

"Did you hear what our slightly stressed friend said? You are a perfect fit for her. No one makes her happy like you do? There's your answer Red. Are you right for her? Well for some reason she wants to be with pussy assed bitch but still, she wants you. Question is what do you want."

And with that Blue folded his arms and decided to take a nap right then and there till their new clothes arrived. He could do no such thing though. His mind was a whirlwind of thoughts. He loved her more than anything else in this world and wanted nothing more than to be with her. But he still couldn't comprehend why she would want the same thing and the thought that she would be better of with someone else would not leave his mind.

Eventually their suits arrived. It had to said that he was impressed at how quickly her maid of honour managed to find a pair of suits that were identical to the original ones. Along with Blue, he quickly changed into his pair before he was swiftly frog-marched by Blue to the congregation. If he was nervous before, it was nothing to what he felt now. Walking through the aisle past all his friends and her family had him on the verge of shaking. He didn't dare look back in case they saw the fear on his face, instead he stared at feet, refusing to look at anything else. After what felt like eons, the music started to play. He took a deep breath, there was no turning back now.

Setting himself he turned back to face his future. Beside him, his best man stood stiffly, it put him at ease slightly, seeing that he wasn't the only person nervous as hell. There were oohs and ahhs as the pageboy and flower girl entered first, accompanied by their respective smallest Pokémon. Next came her bridesmaid and her maid of honour, her young sister filling the bridesmaid role. The two were giddy with excitement and happiness, though both he and Blue quailed slightly at her maid of honours accusing stare. Her sister meanwhile was having the time of her life and playfully mouthed to him: "It's not too late to marry me instead" earning a snigger from him putting him further at ease. The music changed and his jaw suddenly went slack.

"Seriously bro. You're one lucky fuck." Blue leaned over to him and whispered in his ear.

Later on, in life he realised that he must have looked incredibly stupid as he stared and nodded at his oncoming bride. He had been all over the world on various adventures and seen many wondrous things. But none of them had anything on her. She was simply the most stunning thing he had ever laid his eyes upon. As he locked eyes with her, all thoughts of fear and nervousness before vanished. How could he have thought about not going through with this? This was best moment in his life.

Her grandfather looked on her proudly as he led her to him before taking his seat at the congregation. She was blushing slightly and she had that cute smile on that he could not resist. The two still gazed into each others eyes. He could feel himself go light and dizzy whilst staring into her gorgeous brilliant eyes. He took her small soft hand and kissed it tenderly, getting a giggle out of her. Right then and there he knew. He knew he was going to spend the rest of his life with her.

* * *

"All right. It's bed time."

"But mum! Daddy's not finished with his story."

"You have school tomorrow little missy. Daddy can finish up tomorrow."

"But I'm.. not.. sleepy." She replied trying to hold back her yawn.

"No buts. Now go to sleep."

He chuckled to himself as his wife left leaving him with his tiny daughter snuggled up in her covers with an elderly Pikachu in her arms. Abandoning his story, which he had slightly edited for her sake, he got up from his chair at her bedside and leaned down to tuck her up and put her to sleep, kissing the top of her forehead while he did so. She yawned again before turning onto her side, Pikachu nestling himself in her arms in preparation.

"Daddy?"

"_Yes baby."_

"There's one thing I don't get? What has this got to do with being afraid? I'm still afraid for tomorrow." Her beautiful eyes that she got from her mother were wide in questioning and in slight confusion. He looked kindly down at her.

"_It means that it's OK to be afraid, nervous or doubt yourself. You just have to face them, get through them and eventually you get something amazing." _

"Like mummy?"

"_Like mummy."_ He signed back. She let out another adorably yawn and her eyes dropped.

"Were you really scared when you married mummy?"

"_Most scared I've ever been."_ She nodded, her eyes now closed fully.

"Daddy?"

"_Yes baby."_

"How did you meet mummy?" He beamed as he recalled the event. As he was about to start, he looked down to see his daughter had already fallen asleep. He smiled as her again.

"_A story for another time. Now sleep well my little flower. Watch over her little buddy."_ He scratched the head of his oldest friend who let out a sigh in content. He turned the light off, taking a last look at the two small figures on the bed before leaving the room.

"You were thinking of leaving at our wedding?" He gulped as she glared at him, hand on hips her eyes full of menace yet with a beauty that had still mesmerised him.

"_I didn't though."_ Closing the distance to her, he cupped her face with one hand, gently rubbing circles on her cheek. Placing his other hand at her waist, he raised her face to meet his and capture her lips with his own.

"Dam you Red." She murmured, closing her eyes to return the kiss, her arms draped around his neck. He wrapped his arms around her protectively and she rested her head in his collar once their kiss was broken.

"_I guess I'm forgiven then?"_ She looked up to meet his gaze a small devilish smile formed on her face.

"A little. I still have to punish you a bit." He smiled back at her. He looked forward to whatever she had in store for him.

* * *

**AN: All right first off I have to apologies to some of my readers. I had promised a few people what the next chapter would be about but this idea suddenly hit me and went with this instead. Hope you guys don't hate me for that. The original chapter will make its way into the fic, eventually. :)**

**So hopefully you guys will like this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it, for one it has probably found me the main focus/ thread for this fic. Plus personally writing Blue this chapter was the most fun I've ever had.**

**Unfortunately**** I do two pieces of bad news which also explains why this chapter was a little late. First of my load at work sky rocketed, I don't think I can recall ever being under so much stress, this does kinda mean that updates will be further apart in the future. Secondly I ended up in hospital. Simply put, you can't keep drinking like a student and expect to get away unharmed. Somehow my liver is still functional but only just. The doctors said that when your blood alcohol goes above 0.5 you can potentially die from alcohol poisoning. Mine was at 0.8, yeah they said I was bloody lucky. If you plan on doing shots, never do absent (which is generally around 60% to 80%) and never accept a dare. You'll be the one who looks foolish.**

**Sorry for the boring life story, just use my idiocy as an example. I was lucky in that I had my cousin to take me to hospital and the fact that I somehow managed to survive. Some people aren't so lucky. Don't be stupid.**

**Anyways thanks for reading,**

**92fd**


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